Banks were the biggest laggards as an effective stake sale by a key Abu Dhabi investor in Barclays helped send its shares down 2.5pc.
Abu Dhabi exercised 131.6m warrants in the bank, equivalent to a 1.1 pc stake, and simultaneously entered into a hedging arrangement with Nomura, it said in a statement after Thursday's close.
Energy stocks were also languishing as crude prices fell by $1.30. BP shares fell 0.9 pc. Miners retreated after early gains as nerves set in ahead of the payrolls data. Rio Tinto lost 0.7 pc while silver miner Fresnillo fell 4.6 pc.
By midday, the FTSE 100 was 47.82 points lower at 5614.50, after it closed 0.3pc lower on Thursday on a wave of placings and block trades, signalling that some investors reckon the market has reached its peak.
On Thursday, Kazakhmys was the worst performer after broker Credit Suisse sold 9.35m shares – 1.75pc of the company – on behalf of the Orleans Trade & Investment Corporation (OTIC). Vladimir Ni, a non-executive director of Kazakhmys who died in the summer, had transferred 9.35m shares to OTIC.
Lloyd's of London insurer Catlin also dipped 16½ to 325p as Morgan Stanley placed 14m shares – around 3.9pc of the company – at 325p. Traders reckon the seller and buyer were long-only instiutions.
Thursday's deals follow a string of other share sales earlier in the week. Harbinger Capital sold a 14pc of its stake in Inmarsat, down 7½ to 636½p, while Vladimir Kim, chairman of Kazakhmys, disposed of 11pc of his shareholding in the mining giant to the Kazakh government, pocketing nearly $1.3bn in the process.
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