Troubled supermarket Morrisons was under the microscope after revealing a 47% profits slump and more shop closures as the London market also saw its rebound hit the brakes.
The Bradford-based grocer fell 3% as it announced the closure of 11 more stores and reported tumbling profits and sales.
A raft of retailers were in the spotlight after figures from across the sector in a session when the FTSE 100 Index fell back into the red after three days of gains in a row, down 73.2 points to 6155.8.
Blue chip falls accelerated immediately after the latest Bank of England interest rates decision and minutes, which saw rates held at 0.5% once more and the Bank forecast a slowdown for UK economic growth in the third quarter to 0.6% from 0.7% in the previous three months.
But early gains on Wall Street helped stem losses in London, while Germany's Dax and France's Cac 40 were both around 1% down.
The falls comes after global markets have been buoyed in recent days by the promise of new stimulus measures for the troubled Chinese and Japanese economies.
Attention has now shifted to the US where strong jobs figures have added to fears that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates next week.
The pound rose a cent against the US dollar to just under 1.55, after the Bank of England left interest rates on hold extending the prospect of cheap cash for investors. Sterling was slightly up against the euro at 1.37.
In London, Morrisons was lower after reporting a slide in pre-tax profits to £126 million for the half-year to August 2, with like-for-like sales down 2.8%. Shares fell 5p to 170.9p.
There was also gloomy news from Waitrose, which posted a 1.3% drop in half-year like-for-like sales - its first for seven years.
The wider John Lewis Partnership cautioned that conditions would remain tough in the supermarket sector as it also warned that group wide profits would fall over the full year.
Other supermarkets were sent lower, with Tesco off 5.7p to 185.6p and Sainsbury's 4.5p down at 238.9p.
But elsewhere in retail, another well-received update from mobile-to-electricals giant Dixons Carphone placed it high up on the risers' board.
Like-for-like revenues for the 13 weeks to August 1 rose 8% led by a 10% surge in the UK and Ireland and chief executive Sebastian James said the group was "in very good shape to have another successful year". Shares rose 2%, or 7.6p, to 427.5p.
Traders also cheered interim results from fashion retailer Next, as half-year pre-tax profits rose 7.1% to £347.1 million amid a 3.5% rise in full-price sales that was ahead of the retailer's own expectations. The stock added 100p to 7775p.
In the FTSE 250, Home Retail Group was seeing contrasting fortunes after revealing another 2.8% fall in sales at Argos but a 5.9% rise for the group's DIY chain Homebase.
Shares dropped 6% or 8.7p to 140p.
The biggest risers in the FTSE 100 Index were Barratt Developments up 21p at 659p, Ashtead Group up 27.5p at 1018p, Inmarsat up 25p at 1048p and Dixons Carphone up 7.6p at 427.5p.
The biggest fallers in the FTSE 100 Index were Glencore down 11.3p at 132.9p, BHP Billiton down 67p at 1060p, Admiral Group down 74p at 1540p and Standard Chartered down 30.4p at 713.6p.
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