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The pink paper put on more than 14,000 copies to reach 433,858, in which it will have been helped by the focus on the Budget.

The numbers prove the paper is still relevant to readers as it seeks to evolve with the end-of-April launch of FTpm, a double-sided A4 briefing available free in the City on weekday afternoons.

While the FT moved ahead, there was bad news for Sunday business title The Business, owned by the Barclay brothers, which lost 10.37% to 182,843.

Among the rest of the dailies, there were less sharp adjustments than in recent months, but there was bad news for The Independent. It got something of a shock with a 1.93% drop to 258,505, almost wiping out last month's gain. The Guardian stopped its recent decline with a slim increase of 0.11% to 357,033.

The Daily Telegraph's fortunes also improved, as it lost only 234 copies to level off at 907,095. The new commercial team will be heartened to see The Times lose 1.24% to hit 670,754, indicating that its boost from the compact conversion has stalled.

There was further bad news for News International as The Sun's circulation sank another 0.7% to 3,230,276. Rival the Daily Mirror managed a 0.06% rise to 1,720,722.

Express Newspapers got hit by a 1.24% fall at the Daily Star to 843,887, and a 0.99% fall at the Daily Express to 938,968.

Associated saw the Daily Mail drop 1.78% to 2,383,384, leaving its average six-month circulation down 2% year-on-year. The Evening Standard just stayed in positive territory with a monthly rise of 0.14% to 346,265. Despite that, its six-month average is now down 10.84% year-on-year.

The Mail's sister Sunday was one of the worst performers, losing 3.65% to 2,288,267. But it was outdone by The People, which lost 5.35% to 953,263. The Sunday Mirror was another casualty, with a 1.67% drop to 1,509,085.

In contrast, a 12.13% boost saw the Daily Star Sunday climb to 470,131 copies.

The Sunday Telegraph enjoyed a 4.7% rise to 719,086, gaining on The Sunday Times, which fell 0.18% to 1,398,296 copies. The Observer and The Independent on Sunday were little changed, with the Guardian Media Group title down 0.07% to 444,195. The Sindy put on 0.44% to 209,472.

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