Thursday's was a lacklustre session on the UK market but weakness was relatively subdued given the potential for a fall-back after the recent rally.
The FTSE 100 index slipped 16 points or 0.3% to close at 5,930, while the FTSE 250 index shed 13 points or 0.1% to settle at 12,212.
Local shares were already under pressure in Thursday morning deals, with healthcare stocks accounting for some of the decline, but concerns surrounding the 'US fiscal cliff' also came into play in afternoon trade. Investors first digested the Federal Reserve's announcement of further monetary stimulus, which caused a fillip in global markets, and then turned their attention once again to worries around the impact of budget talks across the pond.
These talks took their toll on London-listed shares too, with heathcare stocks amongst the worst performers. AstraZeneca (AZN) dropped 2.8% after trials of a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis failed to meet one of the goals set for the drug.
'Risk' assets were also out of favour, with natural resource stocks AMEC (AMEC), Randgold Resources (RRS) and Evraz (EVR) each falling between 1.7% and 2.2%.
John Wood (WG.) was the worst off, however, down 4.6% as a preliminary full-year announcement failed to encourage shareholders to top up holdings of the energy services business.
On the flipside, oil & gas industry player group Tullow Oil (TLW) topped the leaderboard with a 2.9% jump, after the governments of Uganda and Kenya issued tenders for the construction of fuel pipelines connecting the two countries. Tullow is one of three companies preparing to start pumping crude from the Ugandan basin.