Although the FTSE 100 index lost its way during the afternoon, after hitting another record early yesterday, the second-tier stocks in the FTSE 250 marched on regardless. The midcap benchmark raced higher for the 16th consecutive trading session, eventually closing 67.5 ahead at 5,560.8. Over those 16 sessions the index has risen 212.4 or 4 per cent.
For the FTSE 100, it was a rather subdued end to a week of good gains, which were stimulated by relief that Tuesday's Budget contained no nasty surprises.
Sentiment during the week was also given a substantial lift by Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved into overdrive, hitting a new record and getting within sight of the 10,000 mark.
The FTSE 100 moved up to hit an intraday peak of 6,365,4 early in the day, only to run into pockets of profit-taking. That drove the index down to a session low of 6,272.8 during the afternoon, when most of the commercial bids and offers were being withdrawn from the trading system. At the close, the 100 index was 53.5 lower at 6,282.2, reducing the gain over the week to 76.7 or 1.2 per cent.
Much of Footsie's stuttering performance was attributed to a flurry of selling in the oil majors, BP Amoco and Shell, which had been largely responsible for driving the index to a record high on Thursday. The weakness followed a modest decline in crude oil prices.
The FTSE SmallCap, which, like the midcap, has been making rapid strides in recent weeks, moved up 14.7 to 2,367.8, extending its gain on the week to 63.43, or 2.7 per cent. Turnover in equities was 1.2 billion shares, continuing the strong levels of activity of recent weeks.
