Shares in London ticked slightly higher today as investors paused for breath following the recent carnage on stock markets around the world.

The FTSE 100 index was up 35.93 at 3661.76, having sunk more than 200 points to a six-year low of 3625.83 in yesterday's bloodbath. European stocks were also on the rise today, with the Dax up 0.4% in Frankfurt and the Cac up 0.7% in Paris.

It came despite falls in Asia this morning and another heavy sell-off last night in New York, where the Dow Jones Average tumbled below 7000 for the first time since 1997. It was down 299.64 points to 6763.29.

Manoj Ladwa, a senior trader at ETX Capital, said: "We'll get a small bounce for the next few days. But really the rally is just an opportunity to short or to come out of long positions. We then expect the sell-off to continue. What will drive the markets lower is the lack of positive corporate news."

Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "There's a feeling that yesterday may have been a little overdone, with the falls based mostly on a lurch down in sentiment. Wall Street could open a fraction higher today, which has given the market a bit of early support. There's a small bit of strength in the oil and mining stocks, but otherwise there's not a lot of news so London is waiting for New York for direction."