Sentiment in London took another ominous dive yesterday, with the fear of a shift to higher interest rates in the US, Britain and the euro zone producing further pressure across global markets. Although closing well above the day's lows and above the 5,900 level, the FTSE 100 index was still 43.4 lower at 5,913.9 at the finish of another nervous session.

That decline extended the fall over the two sessions to 142.6, or 2.3 per cent. Equally worrying for market observers was the latest severe setback across the rest of the market which saw the FTSE 250 index slide 64.6, or 1.1 per cent, and the FTSE SmallCap drop 36.6, or 1.3 per cent.

Against expectations of a rally by Wall Street yesterday, the US market never looked secure, the Dow Jones Industrial Average kicking off under pressure, although staging a good rally after British trading hours.

Turnover in equities was 1.18 billion shares, non-FTSE 100 stocks accounted for 45 per cent of overall turnover.