The frenzy surrounding internet stocks reached a new high on the stock market yesterday when Lastminute.com, a 19- month-old loss-making on-line retailer, said unprecedented demand from investors had forced it to hike the price of its share sale by more than two-thirds.

HSBC yesterday unveiled hsbc.com, its global internet bank, ahead of tomorrow's launch of hugely discounted products by the new internet arm of First Direct, HSBC's profitable telephone bank in the UK.

Abbey National plans to spend £200m to recruit 1m internet customers for its newly created bank, cahoot, and its own-brand internet bank by the year-end.

Vodafone last night won its three-month battle for its German rival Mannesmann with an agreed £103.4bn bid, the biggest corporate merger in Europe and close to AOL's record-breaking purchase of Time Warner last month.

Vodafone's bid for Mannesmann, the German telecoms group, broke through the £100bn barrier as investor confidence that it would win its battle sent its shares and those of its prey soaring, writes David Gow.