UK stocks close up after bumpy ride

A roller coaster ride for blue-chip shares shuddered to a halt today with the London market in rare positive territory.

The FTSE 100 Index of leading shares closed 27.4 points ahead at 4021.9, the first time it has finished on the front foot since July 5.

The finish is also an improvement on Monday’s 229.6-point slide, which took the top flight to levels not seen since December 1996.

But the session was a bumpy one, with the FTSE 100 at one point surging ahead only to then slump heavily back into the red.

Tom Hougaard, trader at financial bookies City Index, said: ‘‘It’s been a day of absolutely phenomenal volatility. There’s huge tug of war going on between the bulls and bears right now.’’