It was another difficult session for London's equity market for much of yesterday with profit warnings littering the various sectors and the threat of many more to come undermining sentiment across the board.

But a better-than-expected opening on Wall Street helped the FTSE 100 stage a rapid recovery to finish well up on balance.

The index finished 46.7 firmer at 4,823.3, having been down 54.9 at 4,730.7 at its worst of the day when the market was reeling back from the impact of the latest big sell-off affecting the media and related stocks.

While the 100 index managed to climb back into positive territory as the curtain came down on the trading session, the other indices were much less convincing.

A number of the FTSE 250 constituents were hit by persistent heavy selling, driving that index down. The worst of those stocks was Regus, where the recent relentless downside pressure saw the stock price drop another 28 per cent. A profits warning hit Stagecoach shares, while another transport stock, Go-Ahead, lost 24 per cent after a cautious statement on prospects.

The FTSE SmallCap index eased 5.8 to 2.160.0 while the Techmark 100 ended the day 2.9 up at 1,120.72. The prospect of further interest rate cuts in the US and the UK initially failed to get much of a response from investors who continued to book profits accrued from last week's record weekly gain in the FTSE 100.

There was disappointment among dealers with the market's failure to build on a good opening which saw the FTSE 100 up more than 40 points, following the robust closing performance of Wall Street overnight. That saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average recoup all but 10 points of an earlier three-figure fall, despite a number of profit warnings, including one from McGraw-Hill, the media group.

Some equally bearish news from Havas, the French advertising agency, and United Business Media that caused havoc in the UK media sector, took a real hammering. With other influential sectors such as transport and banks also being given a rough ride, the FTSE 100 index, along with the other main indices, quickly reversed, remaining under constant pressure until the last 90 minutes of the session.