London's second and third-ranking stocks took up the running from their senior brethren yesterday, with the FTSE 250 and SmallCap indices making further rapid progress, bolstered by breathtaking gains in many high-tech stocks. But the FTSE 100, the market's blue-chip index, succumbed to bouts of profit-taking after its recent burst of strength and finished the day with modest losses.

The retreat by many of the UK's front-line stocks reflected concerns that further rises in domestic interest rates might be on the cards after publication of the minutes of the November 4th meeting of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee.

The minutes revealed that the committee's members voted eight to one in favour of a 25 basis points increase, and had debated whether an even bigger increase, 50 basis points, was needed.

At the close, the FTSE 100 was down 27.3 at 6,555.7. Turnover in equities continued at recently enhanced levels, reaching 2.1 billion shares.