A handful of reassuring corporate news reports from leading FTSE 100 constituents and a strong showing by Asian markets gave shares in London a welcome boost after the losses of the previous two sessions.
That good news helped offset the impact of Tuesday's lacklustre performance by Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 33 points after a rather erratic session.
Although finishing well off its best - 5,516.3 - the FTSE 100 index still settled 44.5 ahead at 5,476.8.
Second line stocks, which suffered badly in the two-day setback, traded higher for much of the session, but came off towards the close. The FTSE 250 index eventually closed 1.6 off at 4,872.8, having been up 15.8 at the day's best. The FTSE SmallCap, on the other hand, went from strength to strength, moving up 8.9 to 2,066.9. There was no lift for UK stocks when Wall Street opened in uneasy fashion, thanks to some uncertainty about the prospects of another cut in US interest rates.
The day's domestic economic news, which included another increase in unemployment and the Bank of England's quarterly inflation report, caused few problems for the market.
The inflation report said the Bank expected 1999 economic growth of about 1 per cent and forecast inflation to edge above its 2.5 per cent target next year before returning to that level in two years' time.
CGU, British Energy and Cable & Wireless were the three FTSE 100 constituents that helped get the market off to a splendid start, helping to offset the recent trend of poor results and profits downgrades that have gnawed away at the market's confidence.
