The FTSE 100 finished 1999 with a flourish, climbing 1.4 per cent in thin trading but with broad-based gains, to score its fourth record close in as many days.

London's main equity benchmark ended a shortened session 94.3 points higher at 6,930.2, having touched a new all-time peak of 6,950.6 in the dying minutes of the last trading day of the year. It could not quite muster the energy to jump over the 7,000 point hurdle. On the year, the FTSE was up 1,047.6 points or 17.8 per cent. Yesterday's gains came from across the market, with 73 out of 100 stocks finishing in positive territory, but the main contribution came from some modest gains for the heavyweight banking sector, with Standard Chartered Bank rising 6.5 per cent. London's midcap FTSE 250 index also nudged its way into the record books, rising 29.4 points to 6,444.9. The small caps too continued their roaring run, pushing the FTSE SmallCap index 21.7 points higher to 3,097.8 - its sixth consecutive record close.