Big institutions shy away from leading stocks

The big institutions continued to shy away from leading UK stocks yesterday, preferring to wait for the outcome of the March meeting on the Bank of England's monetary policy committee.

That shyness did not include the market's second and third-ranking stocks, however, which made progress for the seventh consecutive session.

Widespread weakness across the blue chips was apparent from the outset and it was noticeable that sentiment deteriorated as the session wore on.

It hit rock bottom in mid-afternoon, coinciding with the worst of Wall Street during London hours; at that point the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 70, reflecting the US market's unease over the day's economic news, which included a higher-than-expected purchasing managers' report.

The index came in at 52.4, compared with a consensus forecast of 50. The Dow then rallied strongly, however, trading almost level 90 minutes after London's close.

Global markets have become increasingly worried that the next move in US interest rates will be up, a factor that has driven US Treasury bond yields sharply higher over recent weeks.

And that shift in yields was evident too in London yesterday as weakness in short sterling was seen as a signal that UK interest rates will be left on hold.