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The FTSE 100 finished in the red on Tuesday as a mixture of rising Covid cases, new restrictions on the travel sector and tensions between the West and China hit sentiment.
By the close the index was down 0.4% to 6,699.19. In the US it was a moderately more positive picture with the S&P 500 flat at 3,942.54 by 4.30pm UK time.
Pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca fell 1.6% to £72.29 after a US regulator questioned the accuracy of positive clinical trial data about its Covid-19 vaccine that had shown a 79% efficacy rate.
The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said it was concerned that AstraZeneca may have included outdated trial information.
Cinema group Cineworld shed 5.6% to 105.1p, even as it reached a multi-year agreement to show Warner Bros. films in US and UK.
Cineworld also said it planned to reopen its US cinemas in April and its UK cinemas in May.
Chemicals businesses Elementis fell 1.1% to 122.7p as it swung to an annual loss, pinned on a Covid-19-related volume impact across industrial and consumer markets.
Looking ahead, Elementis said it continued to see demand improve and had made an encouraging start to 2021.
Convenience store group McColl's Retail sank 1.3% to 31.6p as it posted a narrower annual loss after its sales rose 3.2%, though its underlying earnings were hit by lower margins.
McColl's adjusted earnings fell 9.3% to £29.1 million after customers stocked up on lower-margin products during lockdowns and avoided impulse buying.
Equities investor Temple Bar Investment Trust fell 1.6% to £11.38, having cut its dividend for the first time in decades after it posted a negative annual performance that missed its benchmark.
Temple Bar's net asset value total return per share for the year through December was negative 28%.
Polling and data company YouGov was up 0.9% to 989p as it posted a 15% fall in first-half profit due to deferred payments for acquisitions, the closure of a Kurdistan business and foreign exchange losses.
YouGov's underlying performance, though, improved on the back of a 3% rise in revenue and it said its second half had started well.
Teleradiology services provider Medica dipped 0.3% to 152p on news that it had agreed to acquire US image contract research organisation RadMD for up to £21.7 million ( £15.6 million).
Medica also launched a £16 million equity raising, at 145p per share, to help fund the initial $16.3 million deal cost.
Communications services provider Gamma Communications gained 11.1% to £17.55 having reported a sharp increase in profit as revenue was bolstered by acquisitions in Europe.