Increasing concerns about the possibility of another dose of stock market weakness in South America, one of the triggers for the setback in global bourses last year, brought renewed losses to London. The slide in Argentina, where the stock market fell more than 8 per cent in a session, was deemed responsible for the rather sluggish performance by Wall Street overnight, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished a mere 7 points ahead, albeit at another record close. London's wariness proved justified as Wall Street fell 70 points in early trade.

The finishing line for the FTSE 100 showed the index only a whisker away from registering a three-figure decline, finally 99.9 lower at 6,445.6.

The FTSE 250 saw its sequence of six consecutive intraday and closing records brought to a halt, with the index finally 41.6 off at 6,048.1. The FTSE SmallCap was never as vulnerable as the 100 and 250 indices, resisting the downward pressures and eventually settling unchanged at 2,735.1.