The Compaq doomsters were sent running for cover yesterday as London stocks went into overdrive, with the FTSE 100 index hitting new records after celebrating Wall Street's startling performance overnight.

Contrary to expectations, the Dow Jones Industrial Average raced up to yet another record on Monday, as cash poured into the recently unfashionable cyclical stocks. And Wall Street provided further encouragement yesterday with the Dow taking a determined run and topping 10,400. But it fell away shortly after the London close.

There was no stopping the UK's leading stocks, represented by the FTSE 100 index, which hurtled ahead to hit record intra-day and closing levels. The market's second and third-ranking stocks also made solid, if unspectacular progress.

Already stimulated by Wall Street's overnight surge, UK investors were electrified by news that Warren Buffett, the revered US investment guru, had said his investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway, had been a big buyer of a leading UK stock and was on the verge of announcing a 3 per cent stake in the company.

The FTSE 100 index ended at a record closing level of 6,513.1, up 71.9, after hitting a peak of 6,519.5 when Wall Street was at its best. The two junior FTSE indices continued their long-running sequence of winning performances, the FTSE 250 advancing during the day to close at a session best 5,592.4, up 33.5. The FTSE SmallCap, meanwhile, improved 10.7 to 2,428.6, with dealers noting the continuing strength in many high-tech stocks.