The FTSE 100 was nursing a triple-digit loss, as the global rout in commodities continued.
Growth jitters were revived by The World Bank, which cut its forecasts for 2015 based on lower prospects for the Eurozone, Japan, Brazil and Russia.
"While not including China, specifically, the trend of slowing growth has to be weighing too, along with the general rout in industrial metals (led by energy; oil near 6yr lows) showing little sign of letting up," suggested Michael van Dulken, head of Research at Accendo Markets.
The top six blue-chip fallers are all commodity plays, and the falls are chunky; Glencore (LON:GLEN) is hardest hit, down 11.5%, with Anglo-American (LON:AACP), down 9.3%, not far behind, while copper collapse to a five-and-a-half year low has prompted a 6.6% dive in the shares of Antofagasta (LON:ANTO).
Smaller copper specialists KAZ Minerals (LON:KAZ) and Vedanta Resources (LON:VED) also suffered, with the former down 23% and the latter off 18%.
Meanwhile, Brent crude fell to US$45 a barrel, sending BG (LON:BG.), Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) and BP (LON:BP.) south.
Overall the FTSE 100 was 128 points lower at 6,414 ahead of the start of trading on Wall Street, where shares are expected to join the global retreat.
Elsewhere in the oil sector, KEA Petroleum (LON:KEA) slumped 30% after a grisly operational update. It has shut-down operations at the Puka field in New Zealand after wrestling with mechanical problems with the Puka 1 well, while production continued from the Puka 2 well.
It has, however, now been concluded that the problem cannot be solved with the currently available equipment.
Providing a bit of cheer was house builder Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV), up 0.3%, after it said it is on track for improved 2015 financial results, as it reported a 17% increase in forward sales.
Burberry’s share price wobbled as the luxury garment maker (LON:BRBY) posted a fashionable rise in third quarter sales, but was less certain on how profitable they were.
Shares shed 1.1% as the company warned that the Hong Kong market has gone off the boil.
At the cheaper end of the rag trade, SuperGroup, however, rose 9%; the owner of clothing brand Superdry posted upbeat Christmas sales.
If reborn video games retailer GAME Digital (LON:GMD) thought no one would notice the profits warning released after the market closed yesterday, it was wrong.
Shares were the day's worst performers, down by a third, as the company warned it had to aggressively cut prices to shift stock over Christmas.
Most of the feel-good stories today are to be found in the small cap space.
Metal Tiger (LON:MTR) shot up 155 as it finalised its uranium exploration joint venture with Kibo Mining (LON:KIBO). Kibo is poised to receive a £300,000 cash injection from Metal Tiger.
Arian Silver (LON:AGQ TSX:AGQ) advanced 7%. The firm said it has started a staged commissioning of the lead-silver circuit at the new processing mill at its San Jose silver mine in Mexico.