UK shares were down in the dumps on Thursday, closing lower with small cap indices also down ahead of the long Easter break.
A slide in the oil prices, UK retail stats, which disappointed and a sharp fall in the shares of Next (LON:NEXT) contributed to the negative sentiment.
FTSE100 was down 92 at 6,106, while the FTSE AIM 100 shed 0.21% to stand at 3,327 and the FTSE AIM All share lost 0.13% to go to 709.430.
Next shares crashed over 15% to 5,655p as it warned of tough trading in 2016 and issued new guidance saying profits could decline as much as 4.5%.
The retailers numbers came out on a day where UK retail sales fell 0.4% last month as cold weather delayed the purchases of spring and summer clothing, said the ONS - bringing yet another round of disappointing UK sector news.
Meanwhile, the oil price was heading towards its first weekly decline since the middle of last month. Brent crude at the time of writing is down 1.6% to just over US$40 a barrel.
The Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reported US crude stocks rose by 9.4m barrels to 532.5m barrels in the week ended 18 March. Analysts had forecast an increase of 2.5m barrels.
Chris Beauchamp, at IG Index, said: "The shortened week is ending on a downbeat note, as markets look to register their first serious losses since mid-February.
"Even now, the move lower doesn’t really put much of a dent in a remarkable rally off the lows of last month, but if US dollar strength and oil weakness continues, the final week of March could see the downside case accelerate."
In small caps, on the winning front today, Venn Life Science Holdings PLC (LON:VENN) added 14.67% to 21.50p as it cheered investors by forecasting better-than-expected annual results after winning bigger contracts.
Venn, which provides drug development, clinical trial management and resourcing services to drug, biotech and medical device clients, now expects revenues for the year to the end of December to be significantly more than double the previous year's €4.9mln and to top market expectations by at least 15%.
Elsewhere, LGO Energy plc (LON:LGO) shares were up again as it expects to earn 10% more per barrel on the oil it produces in Trinidad after lower royalty rates were introduced by state oil company Parroting. Shares puffed out 7.84% to 0.275p.
On the other side, Gulfsands Petroleum (LON:GPX) shed 19.4% to fall back to at 6.75p on the day having rocketed earlier in the week.
Security specialist Westminster Group (LON:WSG) was down 8.74% to 11.75p having been higher earlier as it told investors its keenly anticipated ferry service in Sierra Leone should launch next month.
The flagship vessel, the Sierra Queen, underwent repairs to a propeller shaft at the end of last year but all appears now to be ship-shape and Bristol fashion, as it has performed well in sea trials that involved various trial crossings and manoeuvres.