Sharecast - At 0845 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 7,790.83.
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HRGV), said: "US Recession fears are resurfacing as Federal Reserve policymakers flagged that more rate rises are ahead, even though inflation is coming down from dizzying heights and slowing activity is taking a toll on big companies.
"US manufacturing output dropped in December and retail sales are now on the slide, falling at the sharpest rate in a year. Remarks from Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester crushed hopes that the hiking cycle may be shorter, with officials still largely indicating that rates are set to rise to 5.00%-5.25% in the months to come. Risks of a harder landing for the US economy are rising and big tech is bracing for impact."
In UK equity markets, heavily-weighted miners were among the worst performers as copper prices fell, with Antofagasta (LON:ANTO), Glencore (LON:GLEN) and Anglo American (LON:AAL) all down, while oil giants BP (LON:BP) and Shell (LON:RDSa) gushed lower as crude prices retreated.
Elsewhere, Dr Martens tumbled as the iconic bootmaker warned on full-year profits, saying it had been hit by operational issues at its Los Angeles distribution centre and weaker trading in the US direct-to-consumer segment.
Investment platform AJ Bell was also in the red even as it posted a rise in customer numbers and assets under management, as the shares traded without entitlement to the dividend.
Homewares retailer Dunelm (LON:DNLM) fell despite saying that annual profits were set to be above expectations as consumers sought value for money amid the cost-of-living crisis.
On the upside, Auto Trader was the standout gainer on the FTSE 100 after an upgrade to 'buy' at Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS). WPP (LON:WPP) was also lifted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Goldman, while DCC (LON:DCC) rose following an initiation at 'buy' by Numis.
Informa rallied after the academic publisher and events specialist said full-year numbers were set to come in ahead of expectations, following strong performances across the business.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,790.83 -0.51%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,782.57 -0.54%
techMARK (TASX) 4,500.24 -0.02%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 583.00p 2.86%
Informa (INF) 670.40p 1.58%
Diageo (LON:DGE) 3,708.50p 1.12%
WPP (WPP) 927.20p 1.09%
British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) 3,100.50p 0.98%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,884.00p 0.86%
Imperial Brands (LON:IMB) 2,043.00p 0.79%
SSE (LON:SSE) 1,720.50p 0.73%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,260.50p 0.64%
Severn Trent (LON:SVT) 2,760.00p 0.62%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Fresnillo (LON:FRES) 913.40p -3.02%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,747.00p -2.92%
Glencore (GLEN) 562.60p -2.43%
Ocado Group (LON:OCDO) 744.00p -2.34%
BP (BP.) 475.40p -2.22%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,595.00p -2.11%
Barclays (LON:BARC) 178.56p -1.94%
Shell (SHEL) 2,357.00p -1.93%
Compass Group (LON:CPG) 1,895.50p -1.40%
Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) 456.00p -1.19%
FTSE 250 - Risers
NCC Group (NCC) 194.80p 4.06%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 116.60p 2.82%
Balanced Commercial Property Trust Limited (BCPT) 91.00p 2.25%
Keller Group (LON:KLR) 770.00p 2.12%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 240.00p 1.91%
Workspace Group (WKP) 501.00p 1.46%
JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) Emerging Markets Inv Trust (JMG) 117.80p 1.38%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 743.00p 1.36%
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited NPV (SONG) 87.00p 1.16%
VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ltd. (VOF) 474.00p 0.85%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 170.70p -18.40%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 109.90p -4.93%
AJ Bell (AJB) 352.00p -4.92%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 302.00p -4.55%
ASOS (LON:ASOS) (ASC) 729.00p -4.14%
Energean (ENOG) 1,305.00p -3.19%
Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) 37.92p -2.87%
Hochschild Mining (LON:HOCM) (HOC) 80.15p -2.67%
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 157.80p -2.59%
Games Workshop Group (GAW (LON:GAW)) 9,105.00p -2.57%
