Britain's top share index ended its two-week winning streak on Tuesday, closing 1.3 percent lower after profit-taking in mining and energy stocks erased earlier gains on the index, which had risen for the past 11 sessions.
The FTSE 100 closed 57.29 points lower at 4,528.84 points, in a choppy session that saw it struggling to hit a record 12th day of gains.
The index has risen 11 percent over the past two weeks on reassuring U.S. corporate earnings results, and is up 31 percent percent since hitting a six-year trough in March.
Miners took the most points off the index, with Antofagasta , Kazakhmys, Eurasian Natural Resources, Lonmin and Rio Tinto falling between 3.6 and 7.2 percent.
"We have had a very good run in the course of the past few weeks but there are limits as to how far markets are able to go given the economic background against which we're operating," said Peter Dixon, economist at Commerzbank.
"It's simple enough to say it has been a good rally and let's take some profit and let's wait to see an improvement in the real economic data before we take it higher," he said.
Xstrata fell 5.8 percent, as investors cashed in on recent gains after the miner posted an 11 percent rise in first-half production of coal, while copper output added 1 percent.
"In a way Xstrata's production, whilst positive, is a sideline as it continues to stalk Anglo American which publishes results on Friday," says Evolution Securities, which repeats its "reduce" rating on valuation grounds.
Randgold Resources fell 8.6 percent after the gold miner announced a share offering to fund the development of its Gounkoto and Massawa projects in Senegal and Mali as it reported a rise in quarter-on-quarter profits and production.
Oil firms were also lower, with BP losing 3.2 percent, after the company reported a halving in second quarter profits due to lower oil prices, but said it has increased its cost reduction targets.
BG Group, Royal Dutch Shell, Tullow Oil and Cairn Energy fell between 1.1 and 2 percent, while crude prices fell below $67.
Banks were under pressure, with Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered declining between 0.3 and 3.8 percent.
UK Financial Investments (UKFI), which manages Britain's stakes in its part and fully nationalised banks, said John Kingman would quit as its chief executive.
Mobile heavyweight Vodafone fell 1.5 percent. The mobile phone operator said there was no sale process underway for Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile UK subsidiary, at a gloomy annual meeting overshadowed by economic and performance concerns.
DRUGMAKERS GAIN
Defensive pharmaceutical stocks led the blue chip risers, led by a 0.7 percent gain in GlaxoSmithKline after the company said it aims to start selling Amgen's keenly awaited new osteoporosis drug denosumab in Europe by the middle of next year.
Shire rose 1.1 percent after it said it was still confident of launching its hyperactivity drug Intuniv despite approval being delayed by U.S. regulators.
AstraZeneca was 0.4 percent higher.
Meanwhile Sage Group gained 3.4 percent, to top the FTSE gainers list, after the financial software firm delivered an in-line trading update, prompting Evolution Securities to up its rating to "neutral" from "sell".
Supermaket chains Sainsbury and Tesco advanced 0.5 percent and 0.9 percent respectively
On the economic front, the decline in British retail sales eased in July but by less than expected, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) showed on Tuesday..
Across the Atlantic, U.S. consumer confidence fell more than expected in July, recording its second consecutive decline as sentiment remained hampered by a difficult job market.
