The high-tech/Internet frenzy that has gripped London's stock market in recent months continued apace yesterday, fuelling another round of records for many of the FTSE indices. The FTSE 250, closing 6,362.9 (32.1), and SmallCap indices, closing 3,041.9 (+21.8) both hit intraday and closing peaks, while the FTSE All-Share index finished at a closing high, having just missed out on an intraday record.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment in the market was the failure - albeit by the merest of margins - of the London equity market's benchmark, the FTSE 100, to achieve new intraday and closing peaks.
At the end of the session the FTSE 100 was up 21.1 at 6,728.6; at its best the index reached 6,750.3, up 42.8.
The latest Internet newcomer, Internet Indirect, delivered another stunning reminder of the public's appetite for such stocks as it raced ahead. Turnover in equities was 718.9 million but is expected to shrink appreciably during the last two sessions ahead of the Christmas break.
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