London stocks enjoyed another reasonably good session yesterday, mostly based on the premise that the US Federal Reserve's open market committee would not change rates, and retain its neutral policy bias at yesterday's meeting. The FOMC's decision was due well after the London market closed last night.

The assumption of unchanged rates, with the promise of more takeover action, had already helped drive Wall Street sharply higher on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average raced up 128 points, taking it 400 points clear of the 10,000 mark following the merger news involving Sprint, the US telecoms carrier.

The FTSE SmallCap ended 5.6 firmer at 2,683.7. The minnows provided a spectacular winner in Durlacher, the stockbroker, whose shares shot up almost 40 per cent after its proposed move from Aim to a full listing. Turnover was 955 million shares.