Footsie continued lower on Wednesday as there were jitters about a possible Brexit and UK retail figures disappointed.
FTSE100 closed down 95 points,1.6%, at 5,867.
February sales slowed more than usual for the month, according to official research and expectations for March were at their lowest for three years.
Housebuilders were among the top gainers with Persimmon (LON:PSN), up 46 points or 2.27% to 2,075p and Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV), up 9.5p, 1.7%, to 571.5p.
Barratt's pre-tax profit in the half-year to December 31 rose 40.3% to £295mln on a 19% increase in revenue to £1.87bn. It boosted the interim dividend to 6p from 4.8p previously.
Persimmon shares were buoyed by a broker upgrade from Swiss house UBS, which moved its stance on the shares to 'buy' from 'neutral'.
It reckons the market does not appreciate the potential for the firm to return even more cash to shareholders.
Last month, the FTSE100 firm revealed it had had another strong year in 2015 - with legal completions rising 8%, revenues up 13% at £2.9bn and average selling prices gaining 4.5% to £199,100.
The biggest laggards came from the mining sector with commodities behemoth Glencore (LON:GLEN) was the biggest loser, shedding 10% to stand at 116p.
Business leaders continue to queue up to urge the British public to vote to stay in the EU in the planned referendum in June.
Budget airline Ryanair called for a big "in" vote, saying the UK's involvement in the EU moves to deregulate the airline industry and so-called "open skies" had transformed UK tourism and job prospects.
Meanwhile, HSBC (LON:HSBA) forecast that sterling could tumble by a fifth to a three-decade low if the UK left the EU. It came after two UK trade organisations, the EEF and the CBI, both warned against an exit.
Elsewhere, recruiter Hays (LON:HAS) slipped 8.3% to 113.8p as the recruitment agency group warned that growth slowed toward the end of the first half in the UK and Australia as increased global uncertainty hit sentiment.
In small caps, shares in LGO Energy (LON:LGO) advanced over 28% to 0.27p after it told investors it now has a potential $20mln funding deal on the table.
The company said it has signed a non-binding term sheet with an institution for the $20mln funding and talks continue to make it binding.
Elsewhere, ECR Minerals (LON:ECR) shed 20% 0.03p as Metal Tiger (LON:MTR) sold its shares in the gold explorer and banked an £80,000 profit on its investment.
The mining company investor bought into ECR in November when it acquired 500mln shares at a price of 0.02p (£100,000), a deal that came with an equal number of warrants.
Premier African Minerals (LON:PREM) saw shares advance 6.9% to 0.78p as it revealed financier Darwin has converted the remaining eight loan notes worth £200,000 into company shares.