The three-session rally in London's leading equities ground to a halt yesterday as imminent economic news, almost certain to have a major impact on the short-term course of interest rates in the UK and the US, scared off potential investors.

Dealers said the big institutions preferred to wait for official details of inflationary trends in the UK and US, both expected today, along with other important economic news, before committing themselves to hard market activity.

The pressure on the leading stocks was never evident in the second and third ranking stocks where both the FTSE 250 and FTSE SmallCap indices finished at or around their session highs.

The FTSE 100 has struggled to make headway over the past few weeks, as the threat of emerging inflationary pressures in the US has affected Wall Street and it affected sentiment in London, where the FTSE 100 dipped below the 6,000 level before embarking on its recent rally.