The FTSE 100 Index fell 33.3 points to 5,629.1 today as problems at beleaguered security firm G4S and further revelations about Libor-fixing contributed to another lacklustre session for the London market.
G4S suffered another 6% drop in its share price, down 14.6p to £2.40, after chief executive Nick Buckles admitted its reputation lay in tatters.
The Libor-rigging scandal continued to dog Barclays as Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King said the bank and its directors had failed to take on board the seriousness of regulatory concerns about how the bank was run.
Despite this, Barclays was among the biggest risers in the Footsie, with shares recovering some of their recent weakness to climb 1.3p to £1.59.
Other banking stocks fell in spite of stronger than expected earnings from US giant Goldman Sachs.
HSBC was down 2%, or 9.4p at 547.4p after it emerged the bank had exposed the US to billions of dollars worth of money laundering, drug trafficking, and terrorist financing.
Building supplies firm Wolseley was one of the biggest fallers in the top flight after it said it was exploring strategic options for the future of its business in France.
With this likely to mean a big one-off accounting charge, shares fell 45p to £22.83, a drop of 2%.
Other heavy fallers included Eurasian Natural Resources off 15.5p at 387.4p, Arm down 18.7p at £4.69 and International Consolidated Airlines Group off 5.2p at 154.8p.
The biggest Footsie risers were British Sky Broadcasting down 6.5p at £6.95, Amec ahead 10p at £10.75, WPP up 7p at £7.93 and British Land ahead 4.5p at £5.38.
In the FTSE 250 Index, chip designer CSR surged 34%, or 73.7p to £2.92 after it sold its mobile phone arm to electronics giant Samsung in a deal worth £198million.
David Barclay, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, highlighted John Menzies gaining 2.21% to £6.23, Stagecoach Group rising 0.61% to 278.95p and FirstGroup adding 0.45% to 200.35p.
Parkmead Group shed 3.85% to 12.75p, Melrose Resources lost another 1.6% at £1.15 and Weir Group fell 1.51% to £15.02.