THE rattle of Abrams tank tracks on the streets of central Baghdad sent shares and the dollar soaring while hitting the price of gold and oil.

Investors remained on the sidelines of the London market today as thin volumes and an absence of significant corporate news led to a subdued session trading.

The ISEQ Index of shares closed higher yesterday for the first time since January 20

ABBEY National’s two million shareholders must be furious with company chairman Terry Burns, who fought such an aggressive battle to ward-off the takeover assault by Bank of Ireland’s chief executive Michael Soden.

The FTSE 100 Index plunged to its lowest level since December 1995 today after the worst ever run in its history.

The FTSE 100 Index was struggling to avoid its ninth successive fall today as banking stocks continued to suffer.

PETER RIDSDALE watched Leeds’ UEFA Cup tie against Malaga safe in the knowledge he will be re-elected as a club director at the annual general meeting tomorrow.

United Airlines said it will lay off 2,700 flight attendants beginning Jan 31, citing decreased flight schedules.

Japanese data this week will be sidelined by concerns over the release of policy announcements on Wednesday covering plans to speed up non-performing loan resolution and implement anti-deflation measures.

THE FTSE 100 Index ended a nervy session in positive territory yesterday after threatening to plummet to new lows.

Britain’s biggest companies endured a torrid start in the City today as the FTSE 100 Index moved to within a whisker of recent lows.

The FTSE 100 Index has fallen back below 3900, off 40.6 points at 3864.6.

More bad economic news and profit declines further demoralised investors today, sending the Dow Jones industrials down 230 points and to their first close below 8,000 in nearly two months.

LONDON shares dived yesterday as a gloomy forecast

The Footsie 100 Index has closed down 125.8 at 4084.9.

FTSE 100 risers and fallers listed.

THE ISEQ index closed 9.49 higher to 4302.25 at the close of business yesterday.

A string of reminders that the US economy is still struggling, as well as disappointing earnings at Exxon Mobil upset investors today and pushed stocks sharply lower.

PRESIDENT George Bush travelled to the heart of corporate America yesterday to the call for stiff new penalties for financial criminals and a crackdown on boardroom scandal.

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.

Leading shares plunged in opening deals, dragged lower by TMTs, heavyweight drugs and oils after precipitous falls on Wall Street last night, with only a handful of defensively positioned stocks registering a gain, dealers said.

Xinhua Financial Network (XFN), the Hong Kong-based China financial information provider, held its first China credit ratings seminar in Singapore today, receiving an enthusiastic response from leading financial institutions.

A bleak earnings forecast from Ericsson brought out more sceptics on Wall Street today, triggering a sharp stock sell-off amid concerns that business isn’t strong enough to justify higher stock prices.

Share prices were higher in early trade after changing direction several times in uncertain price action, as investors reviewed a new set of technology sector research notes and a defense industry takeover offer, dealers said.

Trading opened flat on the Nasdaq composite and slightly lower on the DJIA.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s hold on power looked increasingly precarious today as his public support went into freefall after the sacking of his foreign minister and an emboldened opposition submitted a no-confidence motion.

Analysts expect Cisco's quarterly results to offer hope of stability after a traumatic year.

European government bonds pushed lower ahead of the much-awaited testimony by Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan before a US Senate Committee later today, which could provide further clues about the state of the US economy and US interest rates, dealers said.

An analyst’s bullish comments about Intel sent tech stocks sharply higher today as Wall Street bet the sector would lead a market recovery.

US economic indicators to be released this week will show continued weakness in the overall economy, according to analysts.

Sage is expected to update investors on the health of its key US market when it reveals its interim results on Wednesday.

London shares ended the week in upbeat mood, helped by solid gains in oil and banking stocks.

Wall Street showed it can tolerate bad earnings news today, rallying sharply despite losses and job cuts at Motorola.

The Footsie has closed just above the 5,000 barrier, after falling 22.9 points.

For years, Nobuyuki Idei seemed to have the golden touch. Since his appointment as Sony president in 1995, Idei has fixed sagging US operations and doubled group sales to $60bn.

America Online is raising the cost of its primary Internet service by 9% in a move that could generate an additional £350m annually for the media giant.

Technology shares started Friday with the traditional end-of-the-week torpor exacerbated by the prospect of a three-day weekend, with the main direction coming from last night's slide on the NASDAQ, dealers said.

Leading shares in London closed just off their intra-day lows after another erratic performance, with weakness in financial and 'old economy' issues preying upon early gains in the technology, telecom and media sectors - still buoyed by strong pre-weekend gains on the Nasdaq - dealers said.

Ireland is to come under immense pressure from EU finance ministers to pull back from plans to expand the 2001 budget which the EC says could cause inflation and undermine the euro.

Connections of Geos have insisted that their hurdling star is ready to capitalise if reigning champion Istabraq has lost his touch.