Contracts closed with losses of £32 to £44 a tonne despite late shortcovering and technical buying which helped the market stage a partial late rally.

Hog futures were mixed despite low cash prices, with support stemming from technical buying.

Rates, however, could pick up again when the technical buying slows down.

The December bond contract hit a new contract high at 116 on technical buying yesterday, about the time stocks were way down.

Oil futures prices surged in the final minutes of trading on a wave of technical buying.

The dollar rose on worry about the Middle East and on technical buying.

The dollar moved higher on technical buying.

Because traders had been positioned for more negative news, there was a flurry of technical buying of the dollar.

The Dow was lower for most of the session until a late wave of technical buying pulled the blue-chip index higher, traders said.

The dollar moved higher on world markets yesterday, propped up by early central bank intervention and technical buying.