A late rebound on Wall Street allowed the FTSE 100 index to end the day with a strong gain after a session in which international developments set the tone.
The main domestic factors were a big share buy-back from drinks giant Diageo, which allowed French luxury group LVMH to reduce its stake, and the expected referral of the supermarket industry to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
Internationally, while there was some nervousness about the continuing air strikes in Yugoslavia, the main influence was the New York market. After a positive overnight performance, which added 170 points to the Dow, the New York market's influence turned negative in the afternoon only to rebound later. The Footsie closed 54.2 higher at 6,139.2, near its best for the day. The FTSE 250 index could not keep up with the blue chips, dropping 8.6 to 5,453.9 while the FTSE SmallCap edged up 6.3 to 2,394.3.
Turnover for the day was a healthy 1.39 billion shares by the 6 p.m. count, boosted by the Diageo buy-back.
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