UK's FTSE 100 hits a continued low in the stock market as banking and energy shares declined frequently.

The London market's performance mirrored a wider global retreat, following overnight losses on Wall Street and in Asia-Pacific markets.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index dropped 0.5% to 10,281.65 points by 1144 GMT, hitting its lowest level since mid-May, and the mid-cap FTSE 250 inched 0.1% lower.

The Financial Times Stock Exchange Index (FTSE 100) fell to a more-than-two-week low on Thursday, as Asia-exposed ‌lenders dropped on a report of China tightening offshore account rules, while energy stocks eased as crude oil prices fell.

Importantly, the index was weighed down heavily by sharp drops in Asia-focused financial stocks.

Asia-focused insurer Prudential dropped 6.7% and was headed for its biggest one-day drop since February.

Notably, China-exposed lenders HSBC and Standard Chartered dropped 4.8% and 6.4%, respectively, after a media report that residents of mainland China were facing greater constraints in opening offshore accounts at major Hong Kong banks.

Industrial metal miners also lagged, with shares of Antofagasta and Rio Tinto down about 3% each, tracking an initial drop in base metal prices.

S4 Capital slid 8.7% after the ad group's ‌chairman, Martin Sorrell, said progress on revenue growth and margin improvement was insufficient as the industry faces a marketing downturn due to global macroeconomic uncertainty.

CMC Markets jumped 15.8% after the trading platform forecast annual profit ahead of market views.

In the Middle East, Israel and Lebanon agreed to implement a new ceasefire after U.S.-mediated talks, the Trump administration said, raising hopes for progress toward ending the wider U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and sending crude oil prices down over 3%.

British energy heavyweights Shell and BP fell over 1% each.

On the data front, activity in Britain's construction sector slowed at the sharpest pace in six years last month as economic uncertainty and rising inflation triggered by the Iran war led to a steep fall in new work.

Additionally, the market sentiment was further dampened by downbeat UK construction data, which showed that output in the sector recorded steep declines across all major categories due to rising energy costs and weakening demand.