A quite predictable bout of profit-taking in the financial sectors, which had provided much of the upside thrust over the previous two sessions, led the London market's benchmark index lower yesterday.

But there was never any really sizeable selling pressure in the markets, with the big institutions preferring to sit back and wait for the Federal Reserve's decision on US interest rates, announced at 7.15pm London time.

Market caution was supported by the comments of Bob Semple, UK market strategist at Deutsche Bank. He said a 25 basis points increase in US interest rates "might not be the last" and that any further upside move by markets "is not to be trusted".

The FTSE 100 finished a net 7.0 off at 6,315.1, with the index edging up 11.6 at the start, helped by the Dow's near-200 point overnight upsurge, before stalling and moving into reverse.