Shares are down sharply as the prospect of tighter Covid-19 restrictions over Christmas leads to more turbulence on European markets.
The rapid spread of the Omicron variant and its impact on the global economic outlook left the FTSE 100 index 2% lower and has also weighed on oil, with Brent crude trading more than 3% lower at just above $71 a barrel.
The main corporate developments involved FTSE 100 boardroom changes after mining giant Rio Tinto appointed Dominic Barton as its new chairman and GlaxoSmithKline named former Tesco boss Sir Dave Lewis as chair-designate of its consumer healthcare division.
