The FTSE 100 dipped on Wednesday as a sell-off in tech stocks knocked Wall Street and luxury firms also finished lower.
Burberry was among London’s fallers after the luxury sector was weighed down by lower-than-expected sales at French powerhouse LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy).
Elsewhere in the City, housebuilders were among some of the risers after firms including Barratt and Vistry climbed following reports the Government is planning to loosen “nutrient neutrality” rules that have been heavily criticised by the sector.
London’s top index finished 13.68 points, or 0.17%, lower to end the day at 8,153.69.
Elsewhere in Europe, the Cac 40 in France ended 1.12% lower and the Dax index was down 0.92% at the close.
Stateside, the tech-focused Nasdaq and S&P 500 indexes both sank in early trading after a poor reception to a number of key earnings updates, including from Tesla and Google parent firm Alphabet.
Meanwhile, sterling was lifted by slightly higher business activity in the latest UK composite PMI data, pointing to a bounce after the General Election provided more certainty for firms.
The pound was up 0.13% at 1.292 US dollars and was up 0.19% at 1.191 euros
In company news, EasyJet made gains after the budget airline notched up a 16% increase in third-quarter profits and said it remains on track for a record summer performance.
The carrier reported headline pre-tax profits of £236 million for the three months to June 30, up from £203 million a year ago.
Shares lifted by 3% to 440.7p as a result, helping to lift the sector after a more downbeat update by rival Ryanair earlier in the week.
Elsewhere, FTSE 100 events firm Informa struck a £1.16 billion takeover deal for fellow London-listed rival Ascential.
Shares in Ascential rocketed by 25.8% to 562p as a result of the deal, which will hand shareholders in the Cannes Lions’ owner 568p per share.
Informa also finished higher, up 3.7% to 878.2p, after it said it expects the deal to provide at least £12 million worth of cost savings and efficiency improvements each year.
Burrito specialist Tortilla Mexican Grill unravelled during the session following a profit warning after seeing sales hit since removing itself from Deliveroo.
Shares slid by 12.8% to 54.5p after it revealed that sales fell 5.9% on a like-for-like basis in the first half of the year.
Elsewhere, consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser finished 1.9% higher at 4.493p after it unveiled plans to sell off a slew of household-name brands, including air freshener Air Wick and cleaning product Cillit Bang.
The price of oil rebounded slightly after earlier weakness due to concerns over China’s economy.
A barrel of Brent crude oil was up by 1% to 79.51 US dollars as markets were closing in London.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Endeavour Mining, up 70p at 1,806p, Informa, up 31.2p at 878.2p, EasyJet, up 13p to 440.7p, Intertek, up 136p at 4,796p, and Vistry, up 36p at 1,353p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Rolls-Royce, down 16.1p to 443.9p, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, down 25.8p to 852.6p, Pershing Square, down 116p to 4,094p, Schroders, down 10p to 377.6p, and Intermediate Capital, down 46p to 2,120p.