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The FTSE 100 fell 0.4% to 7,203.83 as US stocks slipped and as energy prices continued to surge following weak Chinese data overnight.
China's gross domestic product grew at a relatively measly 4.9% in the September quarter amid supply bottlenecks and property developer Evergrande's woes.
E-commerce firm THG gained 20.4% to 348.4p as founder Matthew Moulding announced plans to give up his golden share, paving the way for the company to join FTSE indices. The shares fell sharply on a poorly received investor event last week.
Domestically, bus and train group Stagecoach reversed 3.2% to 79.6p after it gave rival National Express more time to make a formal takeover bid following last month's £445 million approach.
National Express was initially supposed to either make a firm offer or walk away by 19 October, in accordance with UK takeover rules. It now has until 5pm on 16 November.
Power utility National Grid rose 1% to 905.9p as it reaffirmed half-expectations, though with earnings showing a 'marginally greater' half-on-half weighting compared to previous years.
Investment manager Schroders shed 0.3% to £35.87 on announcing that its assets under management had risen 2.4% in the third quarter of 2021, compared to the second.
Supermarket giant Tesco gained 0.65% to 269.65p as it commenced its planned up to £500 million share buyback, announced earlier this month.
Precious metals miner Polymetal International climbed 1.4% to £13.48 on announcing that it had produced the first concentrate from its Nezhda gold and silver mine in Russia.
Nezhda produced first gold and silver concentrate on 16 October, ahead of the previously announced target date of 1 November, the company said.
AI data analytics company Ixico slipped 1.1% to 83.6p, having guided for core earnings in 2021 to be ahead of market expectations.
The rise came even as Ixico said it expected earnings to decline in 2022 owing to a ramp-up in investment.
Internet platform company CentralNic jumped 8.3% to 123.5p as it upgraded its outlook amid ongoing momentum during the nine months through September.
CentralNic's nine-month revenue was expected to rise 66% to at least $280 million, while adjusted earnings were expected to rise 45% to at least $32 million.
Infection-prevention product group Tristel slumped 5.6% to 489p after it booked a fall in annual profit, citing the impact of the pandemic, but still upped its dividend amid a recovery in patient examinations.
Tristel hiked its full-year dividend to 6.55p per share, up 6% year-on-year.
Fast-moving consumer products group Supreme rallied 6.6% to 192.9p on announcing that it had achieved 'significant' growth in first-half profitability.
Aquaculture biotechnology business Benchmark jumped 11% to 63p on guiding for adjusted core earnings 'significantly ahead' of market expectations.