LONDON: Britain's top share index fell on Friday, hit by a drop in grocer Tesco as well as major financial and commodity stocks, while uncertainty over the vote this month on European Union membership also weighed on the market.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was down 1.8 percent at 6,122.17 points by 1431 GMT, hitting a three-week low.
Grocer Tesco was among the top fallers, dropping 3.7 percent after the supermarket had agreed to sell its Turkish business and Giraffe restaurant chain in the United Kingdom.
"The disposal of Giraffe was thought to be off the table, so the apparent change of heart suggests a level of desperation," Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets, said in a note.
Insurer Standard Life was down 3.6 percent after investment bank UBS cut its price target on the group.
Several traders said they did not expect the FTSE to make much progress in the build-up to the "Brexit" June 23 vote on Britain's membership of the EU, given persistent uncertainty over the result.
Although the latest betting odds on website Betfair show the implied probability of a British vote to stay in the European Union has risen to almost 78 percent, opinion polls remain split on the matter.
"The heightened fears over the impact a Brexit could have in the UK, Europe, and global economy has renewed a wave of jitters that has weighed on global sentiment," said FXTM research analyst Lukman Otunuga.
A retreat in metals and oil prices also knocked back the shares of mining and energy companies such as BP and Anglo American.
London copper ticked lower on Friday, and was facing its largest weekly loss in more than a month as headwinds from a likely mid-term US rate hike that have boosted the dollar added to pressure from tepid physical demand in top user China.
"With commodity markets showing weakness in China, we have seen a second day of weakness in the FTSE," said Cornhill Capital stockbroker Lewis Jones.
Among the risk-off sentiment, precious metals miner sRandgold Resources and Fresnillo both gained 1.8 percent as perceived safe-haven assets were in demand. Outside of the blue chips, Deutsche Bank's downgrades to PageGroup and Hays sent the stocks down 7.2 percent and 6.5 percent lower respectively. Deutsche Bank cut its rating on the pair to "sell" from "hold", saying while staffing and recruitment companies have already de-rated, it is too early to say that a downturn is "in the price" until the earnings downgrades have started to come through.
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