The FTSE 100 was down 0.78 per cent on another day of broad weaknesses.

The index closed at 4,149.60 – a fall of 32.42 points.

The moderate gloom continued in the US, with the Dow down 0.15 per cent to 8,270.31 at 11:49 EST (17:11 GMT).

In Europe the Dax was up 0.62 per cent and Cac 40 climbed 1.10 per cent.

In London, biggest gains went to hedge fund Man Group – after recent falls – with its stock up 9.74 per cent.

South African insurer Old Mutual climbed 9.29 per cent, BT Group was up 8.89 per cent, publisher Reed Elsevier gained 8.69 per cent and Petrofac was up 7.45 per cent.

Precious metals miner Fresnillo dropped 13.31 per cent, ICAP was down 10.36 per cent and LSE Group fell 10.35 per cent.

Standard Chartered and Aviva slid 8.23 per cent and 7.50 per cent respectively.

David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index, said: “The stand-out winner on the day has been telecoms business BT Group. Second-quarter earnings came in better than expected and the decision to cut around 10,000 jobs seems to have been received positively by the market.

“However, the strong bounce-back today of course needs to be seen in context of what the share price of BT has done this year. The share price is still down by more than 50 per cent for the year so far and it is only a couple of weeks since all time lows were seen.

“For now, many traders are viewing the rally as just an oversold bounce and do not seem too convinced that it will last.”