Britain's FTSE 100 share index closed 0.7 per cent lower today after spending most of the day in negative territory as investors banked gains from techs and banks, outweighing advances made in oil shares.
Market watchers said UK shares were taking a pause during an upswing as the blue chip index closed 39.3 points lower at 5,298.7. They projected future gains as low inflation, interest rates and energy costs looked set to fuel economic recovery.
FTSE Midcap 250 cruise operator P&O Princess surged 16.3 per cent to 370 pence on news it was to merge with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd RCL.N , while oil shares gained with the crude price as OPEC edged towards output cuts, with BP up 3.7 per cent to 527p and Shell up 4.1 per cent.
The FTSE 100 curbed initial losses which took the index down to a session low of 5,283.5, but was close to afternoon lows as New York's Dow Jones industrial average showed a 62-point loss by the London close.
Overall volume was a sturdy 2.9 billion shares.
Leading the UK decline were many of the growth stocks that had returned to favour in recent months and helped lift the FTSE 100 to an 11week high on Monday, but which suffered as investors booked profits.
Vodafone shares fell 3.3 per cent, chip designer ARM Holdings fell 7.1 per cent, and BSkyB was down 3.5 per cent, while software companies Logica and Sage fell 9.2 per cent and 5.6 percent respectively.
Telecoms stocks knocked 20 points off the FTSE and banks took of 11 points, while the techMARK index of technology shares fell 4.3 per cent to 1,582.6.