A week of high drama on the London stock market ended with the FTSE 100 completing its recovery from Wall Street-induced trauma. And just as it was Wall Street that was the catalyst for London's hefty sell-off, so it was the US market that provided the excuse for investors to chase British prices higher.
At the close of trading in London the FTSE 100 was 14.4 higher at 6,428.0, leaving the index 7.4 firmer on the week. The FTSE 250 was modestly lower yesterday, falling 7.8 to 5,784.5. The FTSE SmallCap was up 13.9 finishing at 2,522.2, a 2.2 per cent gain on the week.
The best individual performances in the FTSE 100 came from telecoms, where the prospect of more global takeovers-mergers saw the stocks well to the fore, led by TeleWest and Cable & Wireless.
Turnover in equities fell away from the relatively high levels of past sessions, eventually reaching 975 million, the lowest this week. Tesco was again the most active stock, attracting turnover of 37 million shares or 2.5 per cent of all market business.
