Britain's FTSE 100 index headed lower this afteroon, with banks and drugs among the hardest hit as weaker-than-expected US data steepened a fall on Wall Street after yesterday's blockbuster rally.
The Conference Board's closely watched consumer confidence report said stock market turmoil in July led to a nine point fall in consumer attitudes to 97.1, against analysts' expectations for a fall to 101.9.
At 1409 GMT the FTSE 100 index was down 54.2 points, more than one per cent, at 4,146.9, having earlier climbed to 4,271.3. The benchmark index was trading some 15 per cent above Wednesday's six-year intraday low.
Banks accounted for 22 points of the FTSE's loss, relinquishing some of Monday's gains after British legislators attacked complex charging structures and the difficulties customers have changing banks in Britain.
Lloyds TSB led the pack lower with a 2.6 per cent slide, closely followed by Royal Bank of Scotland, off by 2.5 per cent.
Losses in GlaxoSmithKline, down over three per cent, and AstraZeneca, down 1.4 per cent, dragged on the market, with the overall sector knocking 11 points off the leading index.
P&O Princess Cruises led the FTSE risers with a five per cent gain after last week's results and solid figures from bidder Royal Caribbean.
The oil sector added five points to the FTSE 100, with BP up 0.6 per cent after it announced a dividend increase alongside second quarter results in line with expectations, and Shell 1.6 per cent firmer after an upgrade from investment bank Goldman Sachs.
Sentiment in the sector was helped by firmer crude prices ahead of U.S. fuel stocks data.
Mining group Anglo American climbed 4.2 per cent, buoyed by positive comments from De Beers chairman Nicky Oppenheimer. Diamond company De Beers is a significant contributor to Anglo's profits.