Standard Life shares staged a relief rally today on news of its withdrawal from the bidding battle for closed life insurance firm Resolution.

A manager of closed life assurance funds moved in on a place in the FTSE 100 Index after striking a £3.6bn (€5.2bn) deal with Abbey National today.

THE uncertainty about the possibility of war was the underlying factor which wiped millions of euro from the value of shares on stock markets across the globe yesterday, according to Goodbody Stockbrokers head of research Colin Hunt.