At the close on Tuesday the FTSE 100 was down by 0.53%, at 6753.8.
Bank giant HSBC fell 1% after announcing plans to cut 25,000 jobs globally, which includes 8,000 in the UK.
Winners included Reed Elsevier, Mondi, BT Group, and Intu Properties.
Miners led the fallers, with Anglo American and Rio Tinto down by 2% and 1.33% respectively.
Other lunchtime losers included Admiral Group and Aviva.
On the currency markets, the pound was up 0.16% against the dollar to $1.5374, and up 0.23% against the euro to â‚¬1.3629.
(Close): London's benchmark index of blue-chip stocks declined with investors unimpressed by news of vast job cuts at HSBC.