City climb continues but lacks conviction

There was a curious lack of conviction in London's equity market yesterday. Although the FTSE 100, the British market's benchmark index, managed another rise and eventually finished the day above the psychologically important 6,000 level, it never looked likely to build substantially on Tuesday's three-figure gain.

Some said another dismal showing by Vodafone AirTouch, was one of the prime drags on the index - Vodafone's weakness accounted for about 10 Footsie points.

Ever-present concerns about the likelihood of higher rates in Britain, the US and the euro-zone in the short term, continued to restrain some of the market's more bullish observers, but the latest economic news on both sides of the Atlantic did not add to those fears. Helping to fuel the latest upturn on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average followed up Tuesday night's 88-point rise with a further three-figure gain, was a smaller-than-expected US trade deficit for August. At the finish of the session the FTSE 100 showed a 13.0 gain at 6,006.7.

Turnover in equities was a hefty 1.11 billion, but that figure included 210 million shares traded in Vodafone AirTouch.