Circulation of the Financial Times rose 1.8 per cent between November and December, bucking a weak market for most newspapers, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. The increase in the FT's average daily circulation to 439,563, which was 2.75 per cent higher than in the same month of 2004, came in a traditionally difficult month when the average readership of daily papers fell 1.48 per cent and Sunday papers' circulation dropped by an average of 3.75 per cent.

The ABC figures showed 5 per cent month-on-month declines at The Guardian and Independent. The Guardian's fall to an average daily circulation of 380,693 was its first retreat below 400,000 since its relaunch in the Berliner format in mid-September, but its circulation was up 5.8 per cent year-on-year.