The markets in London also saw declines as the FTSE 100 fell 1.92 percent to 6,271.2 and the FTSE 250 was 2 percent lower to 11,225.5.
Shares in the financial services sector did not do very well for the most part on the 100.
Venture capital and private equity group 3i Group (LSE: III) was 5.8 percent lower to £10.56, while insurer Standard Life (LSE: SLET) fell 6.52 percent to 318.75p and hedge fund Man Group (LSE: EMG) was down 6.73 percent to 527p.
Not all in the financial services sector saw declines however.
Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL) added 1.17 percent to £11.20 and insurer Benfield Group (LSE: BFD) gained 4.95 percent to 339p.
Insurance broker and risk management advisor Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (LSE: JLT) had the best day on the 100 as it added 4.95 percent to 425p.
The best performer on the 250 was BSkyB (LSE: BSY), which gained 2.58 percent to 694.4p.
Other gainers included power transmitter National Grid (LSE: NG), which was 2.09 percent higher to 731.5p.
Chemicals group Reckitt Benckiser (LSE: RB) was up 1.5 percent to £27.74.
Defense contractor BAE Systems (LSE: BA; OTCBB: BAESY) added 0.9 percent to 440.25p after it said that first half profits were up a better-than-anticipated 27 percent on upgrades to its Bradley fighting vehicles for use by the US in Iraq and on the production of jet parts.
The biggest loser on the day on the 100 was miner Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ), which was down 6.79 percent to £11.25.
In the pharmaceuticals sector, AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN; NYSE: AZN) dropped 3.5 percent to £24.30 on a safety review of its acid reflux drugs Nexium and Prilosec after two studies linked them to heart problems.
However, the Food and Drug Administration said that it had concluded on a preliminary basis that there is no increased risk to patients taking the drugs.