UK blue chip stocks were battered, with just 11 companies recording a rise and United Utilities Group's the only unchanged share price as the day closed. The FTSE 100 fell 1.56%, or 85.88 points to 5423.14, as profit warnings from the high street weighed against positive retail sales data for October.
Mothercare's revelation of a first half loss and dividend cut pushed it into the position of second worst performing midcap stock, down 17.87% to 142.42. Fashion chain French Connection fell 15.5% to 61p after issuing a profit warning, while the midcap index finished the day down 0.5%.
France's CAC index of the 40 largest companies closed down 1.87% at 3007.71, while Germany's DAX fell 1.1% to 5848.7, as the bond markets fuelled sovereign debt fears.
Ahead of Spain's parliamentary election on Sunday, the country's borrowing costs jumped to 14 year highs at an auction of 10 year debt, while its premium over German 10 year bonds was wider than at any point in the euro's history.
• This article was amended on 18 November 2011 to remove an inaccurate reference to British Sky Broadcasting Group owning Sky Italia.
