Shares in UK insurers shot back into positive territory after days of falling prices today.
Both CGNU and Prudential performed well this afternoon, leading the way ahead of their US counterparts.
Investors watched as stock prices fell sharply in the US as the financial markets re-opened for the first time since last week's terrorist attacks.
Early falls were felt by insurers and airlines in particular but as US firms made partial recoveries, London showed more faith in the industry's ability to foot the bill for the destruction.
By late afternoon London time, CGNU had shot clear of Friday's share price to trade at 4% up and Prudential was 5.8% up. Even the reinsurer Munich Re, which saw its value hit particularly hard last week, was trading at 4.8% up on Friday's price at close of business. Royal & SunAlliance, however, was languishing at minus 2.73%.
In the US, insurance giant American International Group (AIG) fell 8% but its share price made a partial recovery as trading continued and its share price was down minus 5.75% compared to close of trading last Tuesday.
Fellow US insurers followed a similar pattern. AllState shed 5% early on but after announcing it would buy back $500m (£333m) shares, its price was showing signs of edging back towards last week's levels.
Safeco, which offers life and property insurance to multi-sized companies across the US, dropped almost 7% but within hours was trading at minus 1.95
