A fresh dose of takeover/merger speculation provided a sturdy foundation for London stocks yesterday, but it was hard going for much of the session in relatively low turnover. The market struggled for most of the day after worries returned about the possibility of another increase in domestic interest rates - possibly as early as the next meeting of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee on November 16th. A positive showing by Wall Street at the start of the US session and talk of imminent bids gave heart to the market just before the close, helping the FTSE 100 finish well clear of the 6,200 mark. It eventually closed a net 35.4 ahead at 6,234.8, having moved in a 52.9-point arc during the day.

Much of the upward thrust came from the bulls' favourite sectors - pharmaceuticals and telecoms - which were prime recipients of the latest burst of takeover-induced buying, especially the former. The telecoms arena provided the FTSE 100's best individual performer in Orange. Turnover was a rather poor 870 million shares.