Around the World's Markets: London

STRONGER-than-expected US retail sales figures wiped out the benign impact of a surprise fall in UK inflation to convert a 50-point gain on the London stock market into a similar-sized loss. The FTSE 100 closed down 53.0 points or 0.9 per cent to close at 6,116.0. "There are so many bearish investors around that the market is really only reacting to bad news and not good news," said one trader. "To be honest it felt like we were down this morning even when we were up."

Market Report, page 19