LONDON (MarketWatch) Most U.K. stocks were mired in the red on Friday, setting the FTSE 100 index on track for a third straight week of losses.

The benchmark index UKX, -1.20% slumped 0.6% to 6,392.65. If it closes around this level, it would mark the lowest close in a year.

Stocks across Europe have taken a hard beating this week, after a raft on lackluster data from German spurred concerns the regions largest economy is heading for a recession.

This line about Germany slipping into recession is simply layering on another level of angst to a market that is already wary of the threat posed by the likes of Ebola in West Africa and Islamic State in the Middle East, said Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct, in a note Friday.

Mining firms posted some of the biggest losses on Friday, a reversal from Thursdays upbeat mood when a weaker dollar helped boost commodity prices. Shares of Anglo American PLC AAL, -2.43% lost 2.3% on Friday, Randgold Resources Ltd. RRS, -2.47% declined 1.9%, Rio Tinto PLC RIO, -2.83% RIO, -2.45% RIO, -3.00% fell 1.7%, and BHP Billiton PLC BLT, -3.15% BHP, -2.55% BHP, -2.74% lost 1.3%.

Shares of British American Tobacco PLC BATS, -1.18% BTI, -1.39% dropped 0.8% after Goldman Sachs cut the company to sell from neutral, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

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London Markets: FTSE 100 heads for one-year low after tumultuous week