Capita was for the second day the biggest faller, ending 4% lower - having sunk 27% on Thursday after a profit warning.
Banks recovered from heavy falls after speculative reports that troubled Deutsche Bank's US fine may be reduced.
Barclays ended 0.3% up and Royal Bank of Scotland was 0.96% better.
Oil prices, boosted this week in the wake of hopes of an Opec agreement to cut output, made further gains.
Brent crude rose 0.18% to $49.99 a barrel, and US crude was trading 0.5% up at $48.05.
On the currency markets, the pound was up 0.29% against the dollar at $1.3005 and up 0.20% against the euro at â‚¬1.1578.
(Close): London's FTSE 100 eased back from a fall of more than 1% to close down by 0.34% at 6,895.8 points.