The London market closed down today, dragged lower by traders who were disappointed by results from Royal Bank of Scotland and British Airways owner International Airlines Group (IAG).
The state-backed lender said its third quarter pre-tax profit before one-time items and restructuring costs came in at £842 million for the quarter, compared to £2.05 billion a year earlier.
The FTSE 100 Index was 34.7 points down at 6361.1, following a 42-point fall in the previous session.
Germany's DAX ended slightly ahead, while France's Cac 40 was marginally lower.
The pound was up a cent against the euro at 1.40, after official data showed that the annual eurozone inflation rate crept up to zero in October, a weak reading that could help push the European Central Bank to expand its stimulus programme. Sterling was also up a cent against the US dollar at just over 1.54.
Shares in RBS fell 3.1p to 317.6p, as it also revealed litigation costs of £129 million for the quarter, principally relating to mortgage-backed securities.
BG Group saw its third quarter revenues plummet almost two thirds as it became the latest firm to be hammered by low oil prices.
BG Group's underlying profits also fell 37% to 1.2 billion dollars (£782 million), but this was still ahead of analysts' expectations. Shares fell 5p to 1025p.
However, the announcement by BG knocked oil stocks with BP down 5.3p at 386.4p and Royal Dutch shell slipped 17p to 1700p.
British Airways owner IAG said growing passenger numbers and lower fuel costs led to strong third quarter results.
The group said, excluding its recent Aer Lingus acquisition, it posted a third quarter operating profit of 1.21 billion euro (£869 million), beating analysts' forecasts of 1.19 billion euro (£855 million).
However, IAG was the biggest faller in the top flight, falling more than 2%, or 15p, to 582.5p, with analysts citing profit-taking in an industry which is notoriously cyclical.
Elsewhere, veterinary surgery and animal pampering chain Pets at Home was the biggest faller in the FTSE 250 after a subdued first half trading update.
Shares in the business fell more than 7%, or 22.7p, to 288.5p, after reporting like-for-like sales up by 1.8% in the 28 weeks to October 8, which missed forecasts and came after a weak first quarter. It said trading in parts of the group were weaker than expected, but still reiterated its full-year guidance.
The biggest risers in the FTSE 100 Index were Taylor Wimpey, up 4.2p at 198p, Meggitt up 6.3p to 353.6p, Anglo American up 9.6p at 546.6p and Wolseley up 59p at 3817p.
The biggest fallers in the FTSE 100 Index were International Airlines Group, down 15p at 582.5p, Barclays down 5.3p to 232p, Randgold Resources down 81p at 4368p and Morrisons down 3p at 168.5p.
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