Footsie showed signs of life for the first time in more than a fortnight yesterday but it was not exactly burning the candle at both ends.
The FTSE 100, which has been sliding steadily since it hit 6,625 on July 17th, recovered 14 to 6,379.3.
The move upwards appeared small but Vodafone, the telecommunications leader, fell sharply as the stock adjusted to a price anomaly at the close on Monday. With the impact of the UK's biggest company stripped out, the index was some 35 points higher, bucking the trend in France and Germany.
That rebound was not backed by heavy volume turnover which by the 6 p.m. close was just 1.2 billion shares - at the low end of the daily range.
Traders said it was still too early to be able to predict a break-out in the tight trading band or which direction that break would take.
There were also conflicting signals from strategists and the latest economic data ahead of the UK's interest rate decision tomorrow and key employment figures from the US on Friday.
First, the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply's latest views on the state of UK industry showed the headline activity index rising from 50.4 in May to 51.8 the highest reading since January.
The data contradicts the Confederation of British Industry's recent quarterly survey which showed manufacturers becoming even gloomier about growth prospects. Its release on the eve of the monetary policy committee's rate decision could cause worries about interest rates.
However, a report from the fund management arm of CGNU, the insurer, appeared to back the earlier CBI view. It published research showing earnings per share growth for the UK's leading companies falling from 7-8 per cent this year to 0-4 per cent in 2001.
And figures from the Nationwide building society confirmed the picture of a cooling housing market.
Also, the US purchasing managers' index, the NAPM survey, came out unchanged at 51.8 when many economists had predicted a rise.
From a bottom-up perspective, there were strong figures from Royal Bank of Scotland and upbeat numbers from AstraZeneca.
But there is also a big batch of numbers due between now and the end of the week and the market wants them out of the way before it decides to make a move.
