The blue-chip FTSE 100 lost 0.7 per cent, after hitting a fresh 10-month high in the previous session. ― Reuters pic
Miners and consumer stocks, mainly Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Diageo were the biggest drag on the index. Britain is struggling to contain the coronavirus pandemic, with the country recording one of the world's highest death tolls of around 65,000 by mid-December, while the emergence of a more infectious virus variant has compounded its problems.