London's leading index just managed to escape falling back into the ditch into which it skidded on Tuesday as the publication of US employment left analysts resigned to an impending increase in US interest rates.

It has been tough week for the FTSE 100. But not even the bears could have things all their own way and with 6,100 seen as a support level for the index, the Footsie yesterday took its cue from Thursday's firm finish on Wall Street to start recovering from its falls.

The Footsie looked set to push ahead in the afternoon but the higher-than-expected non-farm payroll statistics sent the index back onto a downward path as the interest rate worries once again became the main focal point. But it appeared to take some comfort from the fact that Wall Street held up fairly well on the payrolls data and it clawed back some of the losses to finish the last session of an otherwise poor week on a firm note.