The London Stock Exchange was evacuated yesterday afternoon. A spokesman for the exchange LSE said: "In response to events unfolding in the US, the LSE is evacuating Exchange Tower as a precaution.

"We have contingency arrangements in place which means that we will continue to run the market through to the close." The Deutsche B÷rse was also evacuated later in the day following a bomb alert

A spokesman for Deutsche B÷rse said employees were told to leave its two buildings in Frankfurt while trade was halted for the day.