The stock market pendulum swung substantially yesterday as investors tried to assess the market's likely short-term direction.
But the FTSE 100 index finished delicately poised, and fractionally in the bulls' camp, thanks mainly to Wall Street's mostly positive opening.
On the plus side for London was the continuing liquidity story, with institutions still full of cash. Another positive factor was the ever-flowing stream of takeover stories, both actual and rumoured.
On the other side of the coin, the interest rate debate, viewed by many observers as the main driving force behind market sentiment over recent years, remained in the balance.
The other negative factor was the fear of another dose of currency and stock market weakness in Latin America and elsewhere.
At the close, the FTSE 100 was 4.8 ahead at 5,885.7, a move described as encouraging by some dealers, still concerned about the heavy sell-off that damaged sentiment at the end of last week.
That relatively sedate close masked a big swing in mood earlier in the day, when an initial surge of nearly 50 points in the FTSE 100 was gradually erased and replaced by a 58-point slide over lunchtime.
Second and third-line stocks were never really threatened by the bouts of uncertainty affecting the leaders. The FTSE 250 closed a net 21.6 higher at 4,856.8, having hit a session high of 4,866.4. The FTSE SmallCap, meanwhile, settled 3.6 ahead at 2,095.0, having got to within 3.5 of the 2,100 level.
