London's equity market walked into a broadside of selling yesterday as some of the recent economic data raised fears of interest rate rises on both sides of the Atlantic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw an early near 30-point fall transformed into a 70-point gain as London closed. There was further weakness in the high-tech laden Nasdaq Composite index, which spilled over into London.

Much of the pain inflicted on the FTSE 100 index came from downside pressure exerted on the high tech/telecoms areas on the market, which have been instrumental in driving the indices to record levels this year.

At the close, the FTSE 100 was off 68.3, or 1 per cent, at 6,633.8, its third consecutive fall, but it was well clear of its lowest level of the day, 6,588.7, down 113.4, recorded over lunchtime.

Turnover in equities remained robust; volume reached 1.7 billion shares, Vodafone AirTouch topped the list.