London’s top index was a touch lower on the back of slumps for AstraZeneca and Schroders as global trading was again dominated by caution ahead of the US election result.
The FTSE 100 was dented by a hefty fall for AstraZeneca after reports from China that dozens of the pharmaceutical company’s Chinese executives could be implicated in an insurance fraud case.
The group had previously said its China president Leon Wang was under investigation by authorities in the country.
Shares in the company were down 8.4% to 10,114p after the fresh reports.
This slump and the strong pound caused a drag on the index late in the session despite it reducing its losses from intraday lows.
The FTSE 100 finished 11.85 points, or 0.14%, lower to end the day at 8,172.39.
In the US, Wall Street started trading in a positive mood as voters went to the polls.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: “US markets aren’t showing many signs of nervousness as voting gets under way.
“While the political tension in the US has been ratcheted up to a high level, the market has remained calm, showing some of the usual pre-election weakness but otherwise holding steady.”
In continental Europe, the main markets rebounded from the slumps in Monday’s session.
The Cac 40 ended 0.48% higher for the day and the Dax index was up 0.55%.
In currency, the pound climbed amid predictions from traders that UK interest rates are likely to fall more slowly than other countries.
The pound was up 0.51% at 1.302 US dollars and up 0.15% at 1.192 euros.
In company news, Schroders was a notable faller after the FTSE 100 investment giant reported a surge of outflows in the latest quarter.
Net outflows hit £2.3 billion for the quarter amid higher investor withdrawals in its Schroders Solutions business.
Shares were down 13.7% to 313.8p at the close.
Primark owner Associated British Foods saw shares climb after it saw annual earnings jump by more than 50% in spite of an early summer weather hit to sales.
It reported a 53% rise in operating profits at Primark to £1.1 billion over the year to September 14 as groupwide like-for-like sales lifted 1.2%.
Shares in the company were up 3.2% at 2,362p.
Hornby shares were higher after it agreed to sell off a loss-making subsidiary which makes Oxford Diecast models.
The scale model business saw shares rise 2.8% to 18.5p after it entered into a conditional agreement to sell its LCD Enterprises business to EKD Enterprises for £1.38 million.
Elsewhere, the price of oil moved higher on the back of potential supply disruption in the US and weaker earnings for Saudi Arabia’s Aramco.
A barrel of Brent crude oil was up by 1.29% to 76.04 dollars (£58.40) as markets were closing in London.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Melrose Industries, up 24.6p to 498.8p, 3i Group, up 139p to 3,340p, BT, up 5.25p to 147.4p, AB Foods, up 73p to 2,362p, and United Utilities, up 32.5p to 1,059.5p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Schroders, down 49.8p to 313.8p, AstraZeneca, down 928p to 10,114p, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, down 36p to 1,820p, GSK, down 22.5p to 1,391.5p, and Land Securities, down 8.5p to 595p.
