Around the World's Markets: London

THE STOCK market gained almost 100 points, ending a streak of four consecutive falls, as British Telecom, pharmaceuticals and banks weighed in with solid rises.

Shrugging off the impact of a weak Wall Street, the FTSE-100 closed 92.2 points or 1.4 per cent up at 6,534.2 points. BT and pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca were key stocks, each contributing more than eight points to the rise as overall gainers were in a near four-to-one majority.