Leading shares remained firmer but off intraday highs in thin midday trading, tentatively clawing back some of yesterday's massive losses, although investors continued to tread warily in the wake of the apparent $4 bn (€4.06bn) fraud at WorldCom, dealers said.

US-based Enron Corporation, once the world’s largest energy trader, slid toward bankruptcy in one of the most spectacular downfalls Wall Street has ever seen after its would-be rescuer Dynegy Inc. backed out of an $8.4bn deal to take it over.

Only one of the twin World Trade Centre towers was insured because experts believed the chances of both collapsing simultaneously was too far-fetched, it emerged today.