Worries about interest rate rises, terror attacks and the fallout from the start of the UK smoking ban meant markets made an uncertain start to the week.
Investors are pretty much convinced the Bank of England's monetary policy committee will raise the cost of borrowing again this month, and today's purchasing managers' index of manufacturing did little to dampen that expectation. Factory output slowed but manufacturers are still raising prices, which adds to the inflationary pressures the Bank is trying to contain.
So the pound hit a 26-year-high against the dollar, touching $2.0169, as dealers bet on the bank acting this week. There was also some uncertainty ahead of the key US figures this week, the non-farm payroll report on Friday.
The weekend's car bomb attempts left passengers facing delays and disruption, and travel firms facing falling share prices. British Airways lost 5.75p to 412.75p, not helped by news that Angola had revoked the airline's permit to fly into the country, in a tit-for-tat move after Angola's TAAG airline was told it would not be allowed into Britain.
Meanwhile holiday firm First Choice fell 11.5p to 307.5p while Thomas Cook dropped 14p to 310p, additionally unsettled by Credit Suisse starting coverage with an underperform rating and 255p target price.
Enterprise Inns was 15.5p lower at 673.5p and JD Wetherspoon slipped 20p to 535.5p as investors wondered about the effect on the pub groups' business of the smoking ban which began yesterday.
Retailers remained weak on fears consumers were in no mood to splash the cash, thanks to the rate rises and the current poor weather. Next, which is believed to have performed poorly in the past couple of weeks or so, fell 39p to £19.70 and DSG International - the former Dixons - dropped 3.2p to 155.5.
Department store group Debenhams slipped 1p to 128.75p despite the company seeking a European partner. German conglomerate Karstadtquelle admitted it had held talks with Debenhams, but La Rinascente of Italy said there had been no contact with the UK company.
Oriel Securities said Debenhams' trading was likely to be "awful at the moment" but suggested Karstadtquelle could be keen to spin off its department stores division and merge it with Debenhams.
However, Oriel said the synergies would be limited, which could have the effect of prompting Icelandic group Baugur to raise its stake in Debenhams. "There are greater synergies from a combination [of Debenhams] with Baugur's House of Fraser," said Oriel.
Property companies were also out of favour, with Segro down 14p at 611p and British Land off 26p to £13.14.
Chocolate and fizzy drinks group Cadbury Schweppes was 10p lower at 670p. The company has recently been tipped as a takeover target, but today came suggestions that one possible bidder for its confectionery business, Kraft, may be buying Danone's biscuit business instead.
Cigarette maker Imperial Tobacco lost 57p to £22.50 awaiting developments in its battle with private equity group CVC over Spain's Altadis.
So with all the gloom about the FTSE 100 slipped 17.3 points to 6590.6 by the close although once again, an opening gain on Wall Street helped limit the damage.
There were some bright spots, with mining groups among the main risers. Investors believe a host of potential labour disputes is likely to keep supply levels low and prices high.
Rio Tinto rose 115p to £39.42, while Anglo American shook off some early weakness associated with the demerger of its packaging business Mondi Group, and added 78p to £31.11.
Platinum specialist Lonmin was lifted 159p to £41.79 on talk that Xstrata, 71p better at £30.58, could be plotting a £50 a share bid for the company.
With oil holding firm around $71 a barrel, Royal Dutch Shell A shares were up 33p to £20.67 and BP was 1p better at 6046p. BG added 10p to 831.5p, helped also by rising gas prices.
ITV edged up 0.8p to 115p after news that private equity groups including Carlyle are circling rival Virgin Media, and are prepared to pay up to £6bn excluding debt.
There was some good news for long-suffering investors in onling gambling group PartyGaming. Its shares added 1.75p to 32.5p after an upbeat trading statement.
Also boosted by a positive update was building Galliford Try, 10.75p better at 169.5p.
But Northern Foods, which produces private label goods for retailers as well owning brands such as Fox's biscuits and Goodfella's, lost 5.5p to 113.5p. Citigroup analysts issued a sell note with a 110p price target, saying City profit forecasts were too high.
"Against an easy comparator, market share data suggests that Northern Foods' biscuit sales have declined by 6% over the last 12 weeks," said Citigroup. "An aggressive price strategy - to recover an estimated £4m to £5m on-cost in biscuits' inputs - appears to have sent volumes into free fall.
"Northern Foods' share price has been defying gravity, largely we believe because of speculation of a private equity bid. While this is a possibility, it is a risk we are willing to run."
Still with the sector, Premier Foods edged up 0.5p to 290p as it announced plans to close 6 of its 11 UK factories with the potential loss of 580 jobs.
Mike Ashley's Sports Direct hit a new low, down 6.5p to 175p compared to its flotation price of 300p as it bought US boxing specialist Everlast for $149m after a bid battle with American group Hidary.
Elsewhere Aim-listed Sibir Energy added 30p to 462p on reports that Russian group Gazprom was in talks to take a stake in the company and perhaps use Sibir as its vehicle to expand in the west. Centrica, the British Gas owner often tipped as a takeover target for Gazprom, slipped 3.25p to 388.5p.
Photo-Me International added 1.75p to 77.25p as it unveiled a £13m annual profit and more details of its proposed sale of its photo booth business.
Principle Capital, headed by activist investor Brian Myerson, has called an extraordinary general meeting to try and halt the sale process. It has also called for the removal of four directors, but today Photo-Me said the four have decided to step down. The company said Principle should withdraw its EGM proposal, and if it did not, the board would recommend shareholders to vote against its proposals.
But Carter & Carter, the outsourcing group, slumped 200p to 280p in the wake of Friday's profit warning. Analyst Kean Marden at Kaupthing said: "We believe Carter will breach its banking covenants and although its lending syndicate remains supportive, an equity issue will be required to de-risk the balance sheet." A one-for-four rights issue at 250p a share would raise £30m, he said, but added: "There is a short term risk that solvency fears impact new business wins."
Later chairman Rodney Westhead told Reuters its banks were supporting the company and it had no plans for a rights issue.
Formation Group, the wealth management and representation business which manages Wayne Rooney, fell 0.25p to 21.25p after Texas Holdings sold 3m shares through the market at 17.5p, leaving it with 4.7m or 2.41%. The shares were acquired by Aberdeen Asset Managers.
Finally support services group SDI debuted on Aim and saw its price jump from 49p to 58p.