The top-share index was back on the slide today ahead of the weekend referendum in Greece and a shake-out overnight in China.
The FTSE 100 closed at 6,586, down 45 points on the day and 168 points on the week.
The retreat came after the Shanghai Composite posted its third consecutive week of losses, and registered the deepest three-week fall in 22 years.
China’s main index fell 127 points to 3,786 despite government attempts to ease investor sentiment meaning about US$2.8trn wiped off the Composite in three weeks.
Not surprisingly, Fidelity China Special Situations (LON:FCSS), down 3.4%, was one of the bigger fallers among FTSE 350 stocks.
Investors were also happy to take money off the table in the oil sector, where Hunting (LON:HTG), Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) and Premier Oil (LON:PMO) all fell by more than 3%.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom however as Ashtead (LON:AHT) led the FTSE 100 risers, climbing 1.4% to 1,074p.
Shares were back on the up after falling yesterday following a note from Merrill Lynch which suggested that United Rentals (Ashtead’s main competitor in the US) would likely have to cut capital spending in reaction to the strong dollar and its impact in US manufacturing.
Away from the index, Optimal Payments (LON:OPAY) revealed trading to end-June remained strong ahead of its move to London's main market and the FTSE 250. Shares jumped 15% to 251.25p.
In small cap news, troubled software group Ubisense (LON:UBI) issued another profit warning after more contract delays in its solutions arm. Shares lost 11% to 98p.
Meanwhile, secure payments expert Eckoh’s (LON:ECK) proposed £88mln takeover of customer service provider Netcall (LON:NET) has fallen through. Netcall’s shares dropped almost 9% to 50.25p.
Conversely, Phorm Corp (LON:PHRM), the targeted Internet advertising firm, rose almost 30% to 2.75p as investors hailed second quarter results, which showed higher revenues in Russia.
The company, which previously attracted criticism in the UK from privacy advocates, seems to have found acceptance in the US and Russian markets for its advertising platform.
Plant Impact (LON:PIM), the crop productivity firm had a growth spurt of its own after announcing the launch of BANZAI, a new product that improves cocoa yields under stressful growing conditions. The product was developed in conjunction with Arysta LifeScience.
Shares rose 9.4%.