The penny seems to have dropped for Robert Greifeld and his Nasdaq team that Clara Furse’s gritty defence of London Stock Exchange independence is winning hands down.

On Friday they seemed to have thrown in the towel when it was announced that the Nasdaq offer of £12.43 per share would not be increased, although the deadline for acceptances would be extended until February 10.

Neither the UK Government nor the Office of Fair Trading have offered any comfort for Furse in this steely tussle. She was left to make the business case without the kind of protectionism enjoyed by Nasdaq, which is virtually bid-proof.

For the fifth time in recent years she appears to have made that case supremely well. LSE shareholders, like the hedge funds, owe her nothing, yet have stood firm — so far. Victory is tantalizingly in sight.

When Nasdaq chief Greifeld flew back from the Davos Economic Forum in Switzerland on Friday, he overflew London and went straight back to New York. The symbolism of that move is clear. Clara is not for turning, and Robert knows it.

There are still dangers galore for a newly-refreshed LSE post-February 10. Greifeld could make good his threat to dump his entire near 30pc stake in the LSE onto the market, possibly causing a precipitate decline. That would not be good business, however, and could lose money if the hedge funds cut and ran.

In the longer term newer exchanges permitted under EU laws, such as Project Turquoise might upset the delicate balance of pricing and attraction for new IPOs.

Those are problems for the future, however, and will not prevent victory tasting very sweet.

With the London Stock Exchange about to unveil its defence strategy against a £2.7 billion bid by major shareholder Nasdaq, new record trading figures have given the LSE a big boost in its fight to remain independent.

Chief Executive, Clara Furse’s main line of defence is that the Nasdaq bid is “cheap” in the context of the exchange’s recent performance in world markets. The new results to be announced this week show the LSE to be the fastest growing stock market in the world.

The LSE raised £27.9 billion ($54.5bn) last year, 71pc up on the previous year. This is said to include £10.3bn from businesses which would normally be expected to use the American markets.

The value of share dealing was also up by more than 36pc at £142bn ($277bn). It’s also reckoned that seven of the LSE’s best trading days occurred in December, a month of restricted opportunities to trade.

In the defence document, Clara Furse is expected to return funds to shareholders and promise a dividend rise of more than 50pc in the context of record profits.

As always as of late the hedge funds, which own 30pc of LSE shares, hold the key to its survival. If Furse can persuade them to be patient and await results, she may force Nasdaq on the back foot.

Nasdaq CEO, Robert Greifeld, has already confirmed that he will set up a rival exchange in London if he fails to secure the LSE. New regulations from the European Union mean that the field will be open to all-comers soon. With Project Turquoise promised from a medley of banks, and tiny Plus Markets set to tilt at windmills, the LSE board may not be too worried at that prospect. London is its home turf, after all, and a few choice tie-ups, especially on the derivatives side, would strengthen its hand.

This month will see the emergence of a much clearer picture and greater definition added to the parties’ positions.

This has been a record year for world stock markets with IPOs raising £116 billion ($227bn), according to Ernst & Young.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange did best, grabbing 17pc of the total. But the London Stock Exchange came a close second, with 15pc, ahead of the New York exchange on 11pc, Euronext on 8pc, and Nasdaq, at a lowly 6pc.

Much of the bonanza has come from Russian and Chinese companies seeking havens in lightly-regulated financial centres. The LSE has scored heavily over the American outfits because of the negative effect of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation.

Michael Spencer, head of the world’s largest inter-dealer broker, ICAP, has suggested he may not sit idly by after Nasdaq’s move on the London Stock Exchange yesterday.

ICAP held abortive talks with the LSE during the summer. However, discussing ICAP’s £400 million takeover of currency trading platform EBS last year, Spencer commented : “The combination of ICAP and EBS networks provides ICAP with a distinctive capability — a high-speed global network for distribution of products that are increasingly traded around the clock.

“Almost all other businesses, the inter-dealer brokers and the exchanges, lack this global capability. Consolidation in these markets continues and ICAP remains in a very strong position.”

He added: “The group remains highly cash-generative with a strong balance sheet.”

Spencer also remarked that the inter-dealer broker market is still growing rapidly. ICAP’s profits in the six months to September rose 23pc to £120.8 million on revenues 22pc higher at £543 million. The shares rose 8.5p to 495p, valuing the business at a shade over £3 billion.