The FTSE 100 was on the back foot again after US tech stocks tanked as Google owner Alphabet took a beating after its latest results.
That led to tech-heavy US index Nasdaq having its worst day since February, which dragged on London with Footsie down 49 at 7,364 in early trades.
Standard Chartered led the retreat as the Asia-focused bank reported a sharp drop in profit in the third quarter, taking a hit from its exposure to Chinese banking and real estate, although the bank backed its annual guidance.
WPP was also under pressure as the ad agency warned full-year revenue and profit margins would be lower than expected, as advertising spending fell in North America and China remained weak.
Slightly better was Marmite and Ben & Jerry’s owner Unilever, which reported price growth continued to ease in the third quarter as it unveiled a 5.2% rise in underlying sales.
A takeover battle might be on the way at Wagamama owner Restaurant Group with Pizza Express said to be interested in taking it away. Restaurant has already agreed a £500m bid from private equity group Apollo.
Among the small caps, Kromek shares marched 24% higher after it reported winning a US$5.9m contract from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to research and develop biosecurity technologies.