Market Report - London

A bout of weakness in gilts, plus a spate of profit-taking by the big institutions, saw London's leading stocks give way yesterday after four successive strong sessions.

Dealers were prepared to excuse the market for its poor performance yesterday, though they cited Wall Street's looming "triple-witching" - the simultaneous expiry of futures, index and stock options - as one reason for the rather dismal showing in London. But there were more reasons for the sluggishness, including a dull "double-witching" in London, plus a depressed opening on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones fell sharply after some disappointing corporate news.

The FTSE 100 index ended the day on a depressed note, at the session-low of 5,023.8, down 22.4. But the slip paled into insignificance when measured against the market's progress earlier in the week. Over the week the index showed a gain of 175.6, or 3.6 per cent.

Second-line stocks, unlike the leaders, suffered from a general lack of interest, which kept the FTSE Mid-250 index in negative territory throughout the day. Selling pressure in those stocks was never more than minimal, however, leaving the Mid-250 index 0.6 easier at 4,701.2.

The market's small stocks managed minor overall gains, with the SmallCap index posting a 2.5 improvement to 2,293.7. Over the week, the Mid-250 index performed exceptionally well, climbing 70.4, or 1.5 per cent.