Shares closed higher, but failed to hold on to earlier gains, which saw the index hit a new 5-year high of 6,001.6, despite surging oil prices.
This Wednesday the FTSE100 was up 45.7 points at 6,089.8 with the FTSE250 closing higher 86.6 points at 9,871.8 and the AIM100 82.6 closing at 6,328.8.
Volume was firm with 2.98 billion shares changing hands in 324,013 deals.
Oil prices briefly soared to new highs before quickly running out of steam as US data showed demand for fuel was rising at a slower rate than last year.
Light sweet crude jumped to $71.80, the highest since trading began in 1983, before dipping back to $70.90.
London Brent crude settled 16 cents ahead at $72.67 after peaking at a new record of $73.34.
Further fears over US stocks added to pressure on prices, recently fuelled by US-Iran tensions and Nigerian supply concerns.
Global demand for oil remains intense, particularly in the run-up to the US summer holiday season, while available supplies remain tight.
Today’s look at individual Stocks:
WPP finished the day as the top performer going up 29.5p to 701.5p, after Citigroup reiterated its buy rating with a 775p target ahead of the advertising giant's impending trading update.
British Energy also saw some good gains and climbed up 16.5p to 730p, on the back of a reassuring update that showed the group's nuclear output for the year to March 31st 2006 rose to 60.4 TWh, up from 59.8 TWh the previous year.
HBOS gained almost as much as British Energy, up 16p to 955p, helped too by an upgrade in target price today by Citigroup to 1,200p. Barclays rebounded from yesterday's falls gaining 4.5p at 676.5p and Alliance & Leicester rose 24p to 1,145p.
Tobacco stocks were snapped up after speculation rose of further sector consolidation following the appointment of Hiroshi Kimura, head of Japan Tobacco. Kimura is considered to be keen on expanding the group's position in Europe. Imperial Tobacco climbed 67p on the back of that news to close at 1,752p, while Gallaher rose 19p to 868.5p.
Cadbury Schweppes was given an upgrade by UBS to buy from neutral with a target price of 655p sending the stock 6p higher at 564.5p.
Abbot Group was up 14.25p to 320p amid speculation that the oil rig contractor may be the subject of a bid from US giant Halliburton, according to a report in today's Daily Mail.
Regus was also up 3.75p to 110.5p after the office-outsourcing group said it is to buy the 58% stake of its UK business, which is owned by Alchemy Partners for £88m. In further response to the news, Credit Suisse confirmed it’s outperform rating and upgraded pre-tax profit forecasts by 3% and 7% for 2006 and 2007, respectively.
On the downside today, AB Foods topped the FTSE100 faller’s board, closing 54.5p lower at 788.5p after it posted a 2% drop in first-half earnings and warned of a further decline in the next six months.
In response to this news, house broker ABN Amro cut its price target to 860p from 875p and said
although the results were in-line the statement is more cautious than expected, flagging difficult trading conditions in its UK Bakery business 
The Portfolio
The portfolio continued its excellent run today with news from Carphone Warehouse (CPW). UBS upped its rating to buy from neutral and raised its target price to 375p from 285p, noting the TalkTalk business was expanding more quickly than in the third quarter. In a note to clients, UBS said that Carphone Warehouse's fourth quarter connections (announced last week) exceeded forecasts with a 33% increase. The shares closed 2.25% - 7p higher at 318.50p.
The rest of the portfolio also witnessed some good gains today.
CSR (CSR) was up 1.85% - 23.00p at 1267.00p
Fenner (FENR) continued its steady climb to 240p adding 1.64% - 3.50p to close at 217.25p
Wolfson (WLF) remained under pressure but still managed to close higher at 1.55% to 425.00p
Tullow Oil (TLW) benefited from the surging oil prices to close above the 400.00p mark up 2.10% - 8.25p at 401.25p
