It was a close-run thing, but the London market's front-line index, the FTSE 100, fought out an honourable draw after a day of swings in both directions.
But the situation in the top 100 stocks did not extend to the rest of the market, which saw the second- and third-ranking stocks make reasonably good progress and the Techmark 100 ending in positive territory.
"There was a bit of pressure in either direction, but the overall position remains delicately poised," said one dealer. He added that while the market was always well-bid when the FTSE 100 dipped towards the 6,500 level, there was also evidence of a build-up of sellers when the index moved through 6,600.
"It does feel as if we could be at a crucial point at these levels. The next move might be a substantial one which establishes a new high, or takes us back towards 6,000 or possibly lower," he said.
The most important of a series of global rate-setting discussions, as far as London is concerned, is the current meeting of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, which announces its decision on UK interest rates at midday today.
No change in the UK is expected, dealers said, a feeling that grew yesterday after the Halifax house prices survey showed values falling 0.4 per cent last month.
London made a choppy start to the day in the wake of bearish comments in the Bank for International Settlements' annual report, which highlighted the risks of a hard landing for the global economy.
It was selling triggered by that report that shaved 56 points off the FTSE 100 during the first few minutes of trading, although the market quickly regained its poise to post a 72-point gain within the hour.
At the finish of the session, the FTSE 100 was up the minimum possible amount, 0.1, at 6,546.8, while the FTSE 250 closed 30.5 better at 6,487.0 and the SmallCap 6.5 firmer at 3,268.9. The Techmark 100 settled 6.09 to the good at 3,639.10.
Unlike recent sessions, the winners and losers included a mixture of old and new economy stocks.
But the story of the day was the sale of a large slice of stock in BSkyB by Lehman Brothers on behalf of German media group Kirch.
