Powerful performances by two of the London equity market's most important sectors, banks and oils, and a sprinkling of positive corporate stories, helped the UK's benchmark index, the FTSE 100, recoup some of the ground lost on Tuesday.

Sentiment across global markets was still highly sensitive to developments in South America, where Brazil followed Argentina in coming under heavy fire overnight.

That undermined Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 25 points lower, which in turn induced extreme nervousness across Asia. Hong Kong fell almost 3 per cent, also upset by pressure on the Chinese currency.

And Wall Street came in yesterday looking more ragged. It posted a 40-point loss shortly after trading commenced and had held that position by the time London trading ceased, responding to what was seen as rather benign economic news on producer prices and retail sales.

At the finish, the FTSE 100 was left with a 27.5 gain at 6,473.1, although that was a long way from its best of the session just before Wall Street opened, when the index posted a 90.3 rise at 6,535.9.