Markets await next move in Iraq crisis

THERE was a surreal calm in the markets yesterday as investors found themselves in the eye of the storm after recent sharp falls and waiting for the impact of President Bush’s State of the Union address.

The ferocious bashing of markets eased yesterday with the FTSE ending the record-breaking run of falling in value every day for eleven days.

IIB Bank chief economist Austin Hughes said that in effect normal trading has ceased in current conditions with incredible uneasiness.