Britain's FTSE 100 index saw most of its earlier Unilever-led gains evaporate this afternoon as weak US GDP data hurt Wall Street and added to fears about the sustainability of the economic recovery.
Shares in consumer goods giant Unilever resisted the gloom, rising eight per cent after it raised its 2002 earnings forecast and posted a better-than-expected rise in underlying profits.
By 1404 GMT the FTSE 100 index was up 16.3 points, at 4,197.2, having earlier touched a two-week high at 4,306.1.
The index has risen about 16 per cent above last Wednesday's six-year low but dealers said the index could easily retest that low of 3,626 points.
Banks remained buoyant, with Barclay's heading the pack with a 4.2 per cent gain, followed by Royal Bank of Scotland, which rose 2.2 per cent.
Heavyweight oils were higher, with BP up 2.1 per cent, following yesterday's second quarter results announcement and Shell, which reports tomorrow, up 2.6 per cent.
But telecoms provided a modest drag, with mobile phone giant Vodafone losing two per cent and mmO2 shedding 0.5 per cent.
Over on Wall Street the Dow Jones industrial average was trading down one per cent, while the tech-rich Nasdaq index lost nearly two per cent.
Data showed the US economy grew by just 1.1 per cent during the April-June second quarter - half the 2.2 per cent rate estimated by Wall Street economists.