Transatlantic ripples upset the FTSE

Sliding commodity prices also took their toll, overshadowing forecast-busting economic growth in the eurozone.

The FTSE 100 Index closed 19.09 points or 0.3 per cent lower at 5,925.87, despite spending much of the session in the black.

David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index, said: "It has been another very volatile week and the reluctance of investors to take on additional risk over the weekend played its part."

Brent crude was slightly lower at $112 a barrel, while light crude for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down 0.8 per cent at $98.18. The FTSE 250 index - often seen as a better gauge of the UK economy because it does not share the FTSE 100's bias towards mining stocks - was up 32.11 points at 11,999.22, having earlier touched 12,047.96.

The early mood in London had been helped by first-quarter figures showing the economies of the 17 countries of the eurozone grew by 0.8 per cent, bettering the market's expectations of a rise of 0.6 per cent.

The growth made it more likely the European Central Bank will hike interest rates, boosting the euro to 88p against the pound. Sterling was also down against the dollar at $1.62.

Mining and energy stocks, which had been responsible for much of the top flight's gains in the morning, saw their prices fall back in the afternoon.

Miner Xstrata lost 20.5p to 1,358p, oil and gas firm BG Group was down 18.5p at 1,322p and copper giant Kazakhmys fell 16p to 1,213p.

Scottish Gas-owner Centrica was among the fallers despite Deutsche Bank introducing a "buy" rating and noting the stock had under-performed rival utilities by 14 per cent in the past 12 months due to fears about margins.

Centrica's shares, which have risen in recent days following speculation over a Qatari takeover bid, lost earlier gains and were down 0.9p at 317.3p.

Perth-based utilities giant Scottish & Southern Energy surrendered all of Thursday's gains on the back of talk of a possible Iberdrola takeover bid. SSE ended the day down 2.4 per cent or 33p at 1,335p.

Poor sales figures from department store bellwether John Lewis sparked a slide in retail stocks. John Lewis said sales excluding VAT were down 3 per cent in the first week of May, creating concerns that April's rise in high street sales would not be sustained. Next was near the top of the fallers' board, down nearly 2 per cent, or 41p to 2,281p, while Marks & Spencer was 3.8p lower at 398.4p.

Shares in retail group HMV shot up by as much as 12.5 per cent after reports that Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut had made a 43 million cash offer for its Waterstone's chain of book shops.

HMV paired back its gains in the afternoon to close up just 7.5 per cent or 0.75p at 10.75p amid talk of several bids emerging for its books division.

After the market closed, the firm released a brief statement confirming it was in "advanced discussions regarding a potential sale of Waterstone's".