(Reuters) - A rare revenue warning from smartphone giant Apple triggered a new wave of selling in UK shares on Thursday as investors' fears of slowing global growth were confirmed though fashion retailer Next provided some post-festive cheer.
Britain's FTSE 100 (FTSE) edged 0.5 percent lower and FTSE 250 (FTMC) was down 0.1 by 1013 GMT, outperforming European peers thanks to a strong Christmas update by Next which helped sentiment.
Trading volume for FTSE 100 remained low, just 13 percent of the 90-day average daily turnover changed hands in the first two hours after the opening bell.
In a first in more than a decade, Apple (O:AAPL) on Wednesday cut its quarterly sales target with Chief Executive Tim Cook blaming weak iPhone sales in China and consumers upgrading their iPhones at a slower pace.
Investors reacted by dumping stocks sensitive to China, the world's second-largest economy, and to the economy and took refuge in gold, seen as a safe haven.
Concerns over economic growth in top metals consumer China sent Rio Tinto (L:RIO), BHP (L:BHPB), Glencore (L:GLEN) and Antofagasta (L:ANTO) down 0.9 to 2.2 percent in early deals but a six-month high in gold boosted miner Fresnillo (L:FRES) 2.6 percent higher.
Luxury brand Burberry (L:BRBY), sensitive to signs of slowing demand in China, lost 3.6 percent to join the top fallers.
A bright spot helping keep a lid on negative sentiment was high street clothing retailer Next (L:NXT), which jumped 5.1 percent on track for its best day in more than three months after reporting higher sales in the run-up to Christmas, allaying fears of poor festive trading.
"November was indeed difficult for Next as well, but Christmas did arrive ultimately, with the last three weeks of December being very strong in sales terms," said Peel Hunt analysts, while Investec called it a respectable trading update.
Next's encouraging update also helped shares in Marks & Spencer (L:MKS), Tesco (L:TSCO) and Primark-owner Associated British Foods (L:ABF) rise 2 to 2.4 percent, among top blue-chip winners.
Prominent mid-cap retailers, including Superdry (L:SDRY), Dunelm (L:DNLM), also got a boost. AIM-listed ASOS (L:ASOS) was up 5.5 percent, also boosted by Peel Hunt reinstating a "buy" rating on the online fashion store a month after its profit alert shook the global retail scene.
Still, investors continued to fret about the U.S.-China trade spat, a slowdown in the global economy, Brexit uncertainties, plunging oil prices - to name a few.
Data showing growth in Britain's construction sector fell to a three-month low in December did little to help the mood, highlighting delays in commercial projects due to Brexit.
Bank and information technology (IT) shares were among the top drags on the mid-cap index, while low-cost airline Wizz Air (L:WIZZ) climbed 2 percent after reporting December traffic statistics.
Among small-caps, drugmaker Vectura (L:VEC) soared 10.5 percent to lead the gainers after a positive trading update and AIM-listed Faroe Petroleum (L:FPM) rose 5 percent after DNO's (OL:DNO) takeover offer became mandatory.