London's FTSE 100 fell sharply as trading got underway on Tuesday, shedding 43 points to sit at 8,081.
Vodafone was among those to decline early on after backing full-year guidance but halving its interim dividend ahead of mergers and flagging a drop in revenue in Germany.
BAE ticked higher in the meantime as it also doubled down on previously hiked guidance and said demand for defence goods remained strong globally.
Elsewhere, AstraZeneca unveiled plans to pump US$3.5 billion into expanding its research and manufacturing operations in the United States.
Metro Bank was hit with a near-£17 million fine by the FCA over anti-money laundering control failures between 2016 and 2020.
And finally, attention was on Shell as two highly contested legal cases in Scotland and the Netherlands came to a head.