The midcap FTSE 250 meanwhile saw online trading platform Plus500 fall sharply on a report that it may have "misled" investors over losses.

The FTSE 100 added 0.2 percent and the midcaps handed back losses to trade flat by 1030 GMT, as investors saw little change in the Brexit backdrop after Prime Minister Theresa May's latest defeat in parliament on Thursday.

Consumer, telecommunication and healthcare stocks -- often deemed attractive in times of economic uncertainty -- all gained as weak US retail sales data and more downbeat data from China fanned worries about the health of the world economy.

Data showed that British retail sales rebounded strongly in January as clothing discounts attracted shoppers, bucking a slowing trend of consumer spending ahead of Brexit.

CMC Markets analyst David Madden said a bounce-back in global equities since late December appeared to be losing steam.

"Some of the ground that has been made up in the last 7-8 weeks could actually be handed back in the near term," he said.

Royal Bank of Scotland added 1.3 percent after announcing a better-than-expected dividend and reporting a more than doubling of 2018, profit.

Standard Life Aberdeen slumped 6.7 percent and was on course for its steepest one-day fall in a year after a share offering was priced at a discount.

Oil companies Shell and BP also weakened as Brent crude oil prices fell from 2019, highs they hit earlier as economic concerns countered OPEC-led supply cuts.

On the FTSE 250, shares in Plus500 tumbled 12 percent to more than a year low after the Times newspaper reported that the company may not have informed investors about a $103 million hit from client trading in 2017.

Plus500 declined to comment on the report.

Friday's fall deepened year-to-date losses after Plus500 lost nearly one-third of its value this weak following a profit warning. Peers IG Group and CMC Markets also slipped.

"After poking in a massive profit warning out of the blue, this (the Times report) adds further mistrust about management" a trader said.

Miner Centamin rose 3.7 percent after it announced an increase in mineral resources in Ivory Coast.

Restaurant Group, which slumped in the last session after announcing a CEO departure, added 2.5 percent after a Berenberg rating upgrade.

Premier Foods skidded 6.3 percent after dropping plans to sell its dessert brand, Ambrosia.