It was a close run thing, but a last minute scramble by stock market optimists pushed the FTSE 100 index back over the 6,000 mark, much to the relief of those fund managers that keep an eagle eye on chart positions. Conventional chartist wisdom had suggested that a FTSE 100 close below the 6,000 level for three consecutive sessions would have constituted a decisive downward break for the market. And for much of the session it looked very much as if that would be the case, with London struggling to come to terms with the Dow's 204 points slide on Wednesday evening.
That retreat, coupled with another 49-point retreat by the Nasdaq Composite, gave no support to London at the outset. The overnight setback by US markets came in response to data which suggested inflationary pressures were emerging once again in the US.
The January consumer price index in the US showed a surprising 0.6 per cent rise in inflation, hard on the heels of the recent surprisingly strong increase in the producer price index.
A brace of poor technology trading statements yesterday kept both the Dow and the Nasdaq on the back foot in early trading.
At the close a previously wobbly looking FTSE 100 index was 30.7 higher at 6,003.1, having spent most of the day in negative territory and down 35.3 at its worst.
While the 100 index galvanised itself and drove back above the 6,000 mark, the rest of the main indices endured another tough session, still burdened by the negative effects on sentiment from the recent sell-off in the TMT stocks.
"A rally in Vodafone might well reassure investors in the leaders, but confidence in the mid and smaller stocks, especially in the tech areas, has been badly damaged and will take a long time to rebuild," said one small companies salesman.
Much of the action in the market was driven by company news, most of it seen as market positive. FTSE 100 stocks reporting yesterday included Reed International, Hilton Group, GlaxoSmithKline and Hanson, all of which released numbers which brought a positive response from a stock market nervous about potential disappointments.
