Britain's blue chips closed the afternoon session lower after uninspiring UK economic data and as energy powerhouse Centrica (LON:CNA) weighed and as rumours circulated on drugs firm Glaxo.
Whatever hopes there were of the blue chip index gaining ground were dashed and FTSE100 closed down around 58 at 5,931.
One glimmer of hope came for oil stocks however, big and small, which did well on the increase of the price of crude. BP. (LON:BP.) added 1.53% to 368.45p.
Shell (LON:RDSB) gained 2.33% to 1,496 after BG Group (LON:BG.) shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a merger with the Anglo- Dutch firm.
BG shares nudged 1.41% higher to 1,044p.
The oil price firmed as news emerged of a possible coordination from Russia and Saudi Arabia to cut output, and therefore oversupply.
Drugs major GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK) shed 1.5% to 1,414.5p as market rumours re-emerged about it being a possible takeover target for US firm Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). Open Outcrier tweeted that there was “vague takeover chatter” concerning a potential tie-up.
Last June, there was reported market speculation that GSK's relatively low share price - then 1351p - could leave it open to an approach from Roche of Switzerland or JNJ at about 1900p per share, making it potentially worth more than £92bn at the time.
Along with rivals, GSK has faced pressure from the strong pound and a need to develop new drugs as existing products face copy-cat competition.
$GSK Hearing vague takeover chatter mentioning JNJ as acquirer. Unconfirmed market chatter.
— Open Outcrier (@OpenOutcrier) January 28, 2016
The ONS (Office for National Statistics) said UK gross domestic product rose 0.5% quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of 2015, up from 0.4% in the third quarter, as expected by analysts.
But year-on-year GDP growth fell to 1.9% in Q4 compared to 2.1% in the previous quarter.
The biggest laggard on the index was hire firm Ashtead (LON:AHT), which shed 7.7% to 890p as it was hit by a warning from a rival in the US.
Whitehall's plans to sell the remaining stake in Lloyds was put back due to turbulent markets.
Lloyds (LON:LLOY) edged 1.3% down to 64.07p after the Chancellor’s decision while Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) was 1.96% lower to 250.7p.
By Twitter, Osborne said: "With these turbulent financial markets now is not the right time to have that sale. We will sell Lloyds to the British people but we will do so when the time is right."
In smaller caps, Victoria Oil & Gas (LON:VOG) added over 15% to 31.125p as it expects to increase gas supply to customers around the Cameroon city of Douala by 30% in 2016 and drill two new wells on its Logbaba field.
While the prospect of Solo Oil (LON;SOLO) producing from a new prospect on the Isle of Wight it rose 9.26% to 0.295p.
Partner UK Oil & Gas didn’t fare so well and dropped 3.64% to 1.325p.
Independent Oil & Gas (LON:IOG) shot up over 23% to 6p each as it was granted permission to delay its planned appraisal well at the Skipper discovery, in the North Sea.
Following its recently announced change of plans for Skipper, it has today confirmed that the UK Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) has been formally extended to December 31 2016.
Other oil small caps on the up were Trinity Exploration (LON:TRIN), up 6.67% to 2p and Egdon Resources (LON:EDR), which gained 1.59% to 8p each