UK investors here held their nerve today after a series of explosions hit London's transport system, two weeks after a wave of suicide bombings killed at least 56 people in the UK capital.
The FTSE 100 index of leading shares sank into negative territory when news first broke of the attacks. A string of blasts on the London Underground and a bus sent screaming passengers fleeing in panic and wounded at least one person this lunchtime. The FTSE dropped 0.67% to 5,180 initially after the blast.
But it quickly regained ground, and closed with a one-day gain of 0.12% at 5,222.
London police chief Ian Blair said the explosions on the city's transport system were 'pretty close to simultaneous' but not all of the devices went off properly.
Analysts praised the market's resilience, with losses far smaller than the 200-point drop seen in the aftermath of the July 7 bombings.
'There is always going to be uncertainty in the first few minutes but the market has proved resilient,' one London analyst said. 'Coming so soon after what happened two weeks ago, until something fairly major happens it is a question of the market taking it in its stride,' another added.
