This August, it seems that nobody gets a summer holiday. The news that Nasdaq is looking to sell its 31 per cent stake in the London Stock Exchange suggests that Bob Greifeld, the boss of the New York bourse, has not had a restful summer. The decision to put the $1.5 billion shareholding up for sale not only marks his acceptance that he has been foiled in his attempt to buy London, but also his recognition that the cost of servicing the debts to finance the acquisition of the LSE stake was unsustainable.

Mr Greifeld’s retreat from London is a triumph for Clara Furse, the LSE chief executive, and her team in Paternoster Square. The LSE mounted a powerful defence, seizing on the obvious flaws in the Nasdaq bid strategy, while making a stirring case for hidden value in LSE stock. The LSE team played, of course, on political concerns and public emotions about Nasdaq buying the marketplace that sits, geographically and symbolically, at the heart of the City. But what was more impressive was the effective case they made that LSE stock has much further to rise. And while the LSE was buying the Italian bourse, a deal it could afford, Nasdaq has pursued a deal with a Nordic exchange, stretching itself a little too far.

It was capitalism, not patriotism, that defeated Mr Greifeld.

The executives at the LSE may be tempted, therefore, to head out for a celebratory lunch. And they should, because they deserve it. But they shouldn’t make it a long one.

The fact that Mr Greifeld is putting the LSE shareholding on the market – Nasdaq’s stake will be diluted down to 22 per cent after the Borsa Italiana deal goes through – means that the pressure is on Ms Furse once again. John Thain, the chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange, will surely look at this as an opportunity to put down a marker for a deal that he has long hinted at but never committed to.

If the NYSE does not make a move, the London exchange has, arguably, an even tougher challenge. As markets deregulate and Mifid makes possible a new generation of exchanges and financial markets, Ms Furse will have to show that the growth in the LSE share price is based on more than expectation of a deal. It will have to show that it can grow alone. More than ever, it will have to justify its independence.

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