Only three stocks in the FTSE 100 recorded gains on a bruising day that saw the blue-chip index slide 121 points.
The FTSE 100 closed at 5499.7, down 2%, with falling commodity prices and a slide on Wall Street contributing to the gloomy picture.
The biggest percentage faller was iron ore miner Ferrexpo, down more than 15% or 38.5p to end the day at 211.25p.
Ferrexpo is one of the companies most likely to fall out of the FTSE 100 when the blue-chip list is revised next week.
Another contender for the chop, the pub group Enterprise Inns, was the index's second biggest faller, down 8.8%. The shares closed at 280.25p, down 27p.
Other stocks reckoned to be in danger of dropping out include ITV, the UK's leading commercial broadcaster, and phone group Carphone Warehouse. ITV slipped 1.3p to 44.6p, while Carphone was down 5.2p at 199.3p.
Down in the FTSE 250, the day's biggest percentage faller was another pub group, Punch Taverns.
Punch closed at 278.25p, down more than 12% and by 38.5p after announcing that it would axe this year's final dividend.
