An early attempt to drive the front and second-line UK stocks higher yesterday lasted for little more than an hour.

At the end of the session, the two front-line indices were left with more worryingly large losses - in the case of the FTSE 100 for the fifth consecutive session - with sentiment given another battering by Wall Street's latest dismal performance.

The market's benchmark index, the FTSE 100, struggled manfully in the early part of the day, pushing up 33.2 to 5,868.1, amid hopes that the recent sell-off had run its course.

The index eventually settled a net 55.8 lower at 5,779.9, extending the decline over the past five sessions to 233.1 or 3.9 per cent. The FTSE 250 lost another 27.9 to 5,177.9.

The FTSE SmallCap stood alone as a winner in the FTSE stable, climbing a further 4.9 to 2,222,8.

Dealers said the market's reversal had taken place against a sequence of warnings of overrated internet stock prices in the US from luminaries such as Mr Alan Greenspan, chairman of the US Federal Reserve; Mr Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft; and Mr Rupert Murdoch, the global media giant.