London's sequence of record highs was brought to an abrupt halt yesterday by growing worries about the possibility of another rise in British interest rates in the short term and by Wall Street's overnight decline. Adding to the pressures on sentiment in London were widespread falls among other European stock markets as the euro continued to struggle, and reports of some heavy programme trading business, mostly weighted on the sell side.

The renewed interest rate worries sprang from the publication of the Nationwide building society's November survey of British house prices, which showed prices rising at 13.3 per cent over the past 12 months, the fastest rate since the late 1980s.

Dealers said there was a real worry that the news on house prices would pressure the Bank of England's monetary policy committee to nudge rates higher after its next meeting, scheduled for December 8th-9th. The market is now bracing itself for further confirmation of the house price news when the Halifax publishes its November survey tomorrow.