There were further solid gains across the board in London's equity market yesterday with the optimists retaining the upper hand despite a worse-than-expected set of domestic inflation figures for October.

And the market never looked intimidated by the prospect that the US Federal Reserve's open market committee might nudge interest rates higher after its meeting yesterday.

Turnover rocketed and reached 2.2 billion shares by the 6 p.m. cut-off, the highest level for over two years. The FTSE 100 posted a 49.4 advance to close at 6,583.0. Since the start of the month, Footsie has risen 327.3, or 5.2 per cent. From its October 18th level of 5,869.6, when sentiment in global markets was being demolished by worries about interest rate rises, the millennium and the anniversary of the crash of 1987, the index has moved up a startling 713.8, or 12.2 per cent.