The FTSE 100 tumbled further into the red on another ugly day for the global markets.
London's top flight closed 44.9 points lower at 7,077.64 at the end of trading on Thursday.
The FTSE had been as much as 120 points down on Thursday afternoon, but made back a substantial part of its losses as trading sentiment steadily improved across Europe.
Nevertheless, the slump added to a disappointing week which has seen London-listed stocks particularly impacted by fears of a global economic slowdown.
David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK said: "The FTSE 100 is underperforming its continental counterparts as major declines in commodity stocks are weighing on the index.
"The London market has a relatively large exposure to energy as well as mining stocks, so the concerns about a global slowdown are hitting the FTSE 100 extra hard.
"Consumer stocks are under pressure too as the latest UK services data showed a contraction in September, and that suggests that consumers are curtailing their spending ahead of Brexit."
The European markets were slightly more mixed, although the key German index dived lower under heavy selling pressure.
The German Dax decreased by 2.76% while the French Cac moved 0.3% higher.
The Dow Jones opened lower on the back of global economic concerns but moved into the black later in the day.
Sterling benefited from weakness in both the euro and dollar despite concerns over Boris Johnson's efforts to secure a Brexit deal.
The pound was 0.72% up versus the US dollar at $1.238, and up 0.43% against the euro at 1.126.
In company news, Ray Kelvin has seen more millions wiped off the value of his stake in Ted Baker after the retailer's shares plummeted as it slid to a loss.
The company slumped to the loss as bosses said heavy discounting across the high street, consumer uncertainty and a poorly received spring/summer collection all contributed to the fall.
Shares in the company slid by 370.5p to 555p on Thursday.
Imperial Brands edged upwards after chief executive Alison Cooper announced plans to stand down after nine years in the role and two decades with the tobacco giant.
Ms Cooper will leave once a successor has been appointed, the group said.
Shares in the tobacco giant lifted by 10p to 1,840p at the close of play.
Elsewhere, shares in Stagecoach closed higher after it confirmed it will take the Department for Transport to court early next year over the Government's decision to ban the firm from bidding for three rail contracts.
Bosses were blocked from bidding for the East Midlands, West Coast and South Eastern franchises over pension deficit concerns.
Shares in the bus and train operator closed up 1.3p at 133p.
Oil has suffered losses again as the continued chatter about a global economic slowdown hurt the energy market.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil slumped by 20.33% to $57.32.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were London Stock Exchange, up 160p at 7,168p, Ferguson, up 126p at 6,278p, Diageo, up 60.5p at 3,279p, and Associated British Foods, up 35p at 2,195p.
The biggest fallers on the index were DS Smith, down 19.7p at 325.2p, Evraz, down 16.6p at 422.1p, British American Tobacco, down 108p at 2,789p, and Kingfisher, down 6.9p at 189.05p.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here