A day for punishing companies whose plans came unstuck or suffered untimely departures.

Shares in video game retailer Game Digital slumped 5.77% or 15p to 245p after its chief financial officer called it quits.

UK-listed home improvement retailer Kingfisher closed down  1.48% or 5.5p at 367.2p after its bid for French rival Mr Bricolage ran into trouble.

Shares in construction and building material company Wolseley dropped 2.66% or 112p to 4,098p after first-half profits plunged due to a hefty impairment charge, though the group did raise its dividend after strong growth in the US.

The index of leading shares managed to cling on to its recent gains amid a number of push-pull pressures in the world economy.

China’s manufacturing sector is slowing, traders were gambling on further stimulus measures to maintain activity.

And while Greece lurches from one mini-crisis to the next,  an improving Eurozone economy means it may be able to withstand even the extreme measure of Greece falling out of the euro.

The fall in UK inflation was broadly welcomed as it means the likelihood of an interest rates rise is deferred for longer, although the pound dipped against the US dollar. The FTSE100 rose as much as 0.4% to a record intraday high of 7,065.08 points then slipped 17.99 to 7019.68.