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Leading UK stocks remained lower at midday on Tuesday as the pound strengthened, hurting exporters.
European markets also flattened as hopes of a breakthrough to halt a US China trade war appear to fade.
At 1156, the UK's leading FTSE 100 index was down 0.22%, or 15.79 points, at 7,079.19.
LARGE AND MID CAP RISERS AND FALLERS
The rare bout of strength in the pound led cruise operator Carnival to drop 1.5% to £33.84, and plumbing and heating product distributor Ferguson to fall 2.4% to £58.44. Both earn in US dollars.
Shared-office group IWG rallied 3.46% to 421.2p after Sky News reported the company was considering spinning off its US business and listing it separately in New York.
Business supplies distributor Bunzl dipped 0.16% to £20.29 as its first-half adjusted profit edged up just 0.8% on a constant currency basis, and it again warned of slowing growth in the US.
SMALL CAP RISERS AND FALLERS
Flooring retailer Carpetright jumped 7.78% to 14.55p on news that substantial shareholder Meditor had agreed to purchase its £40.7m revolving credit facility directly from its banks, marking another stage in the company's recovery.
Industrial chain supplier Renold gained 6.26% to 24.07p after an independent investigation confirmed accounting errors, due to 'intentional mis-reporting of financial information', were broadly similar in amount to previous guidance.
Cognitive assessment software provider Cambridge Cognition tumbled 43.87% to 35.08p on warning that it expected to report wider annual losses, owing to lower revenue and increased costs.
Live Company added 2.15% to 40.86p after it announced it had launched 60 Lego-focused Bricklive shows and events in the current year, achieving a key milestone before an original end-2019 target.
Retailer property investor Supermarket Income REIT was broadly flat at 105.56p as it announced that it had acquired a Sainsbury's supermarket in Preston, Lancashire from Legal & General for £54.4m.
Retailing logistics company Clipper Logistics fell 0.44% to 224p on warning that its earnings would fall 'moderately' short of market expectations.
Reabold Resources shed 5% to 1.24p, despite claiming that a well in which it had an interest in Romania had produced 'very encouraging' initial results, indicative of a gas and oil discovery.
Small molecule drug developer Sareum dropped 4.37% to 0.34p after it forecast a broadly flat loss for the first half, as it continued to develop treatment candidates for cancer and autoimmune diseases.
Oil and gas prodcer Jadestone Energy fell 3.6% to 53.5p, despite it reporting a rise in half-yearly profits and revenues underpinned by higher oil prices.