Nasdaq's self-imposed deadline for expressions of interest in its 31 per cent stake in the London Stock Exchange passed yesterday without receiving a single firm bid - though the US-based exchange said that it had actually extended that deadline earlier this week.

Nevertheless, the absence of firm offers for a stake in what has long been regarded as a trophy among the world's exchange groups suggests the LSE is both so determined and able to see off predators that it is no longer on bidders' radar screens.