People queue outside a telephone near Euston station after the blasts. (AFP)

London, July 7 (Reuters): Traders sat glued to TV screens in banks across the city after a series of blasts shook the world’s largest financial centre today but business continued as markets were sent reeling.

All the key markets, including the stock and foreign exchange, remained open but traders said in the immediate aftermath of the blasts business dropped sharply as participants sought details on the attacks that injured hundreds and killed several people.

But as the situation stabilised, trading levels spiked and volume at the LIFFE futures and options exchange was on track for a record day.

Swiss bank UBS briefly evacuated its London dealing rooms which are near a key transport interchange as news of the explosions spread, but most other investment banks operated as usual though many activated business continuity plans.

“Because of our contingency plans, the trading operations were not affected?. When such things happen, we can also do our dealing operations outside of London, in Zurich or Singapore or the US,” said UBS spokesperson Tatjana Domke.

Other banks in and around the Square Mile, including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Deutsche Bank AG and Merrill Lynch, said business was continuing as usual.

Some banks said they called colleagues in New York to come in early to help out with trading.

“We’re all staying in the building because it’s the safest thing we can do. There’s no way we can get home, either,” said Nicole Elliott at Mizuho Corporate Bank.

At a business conference on the edge of the financial district where Israeli finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to speak, police quickly evacuated delegates as news of the blasts came through, warning them to keep away from a nearby station.

At the London offices of French bank Societe Generale and Dutch bank ABN AMRO, employees were being told to stay inside the building.

“There is not a real feeling that there is any serious danger,” said one banker who asked to remain anonymous. He said trading was continuing as normal though he said the systems were jammed and slow.

“Currently, business operations in all of our London offices are fully operational,” Societe Generale said in a statement.