The UK’s leading index of shares slipped back down below the 5,800 mark today as fear of a global economic slowdown persisted.
The retreat was led by commodities stocks, which were the worst performers in the top flight.
The FTSE 100 stood at 5,795 just after lunchtime, down 15 points or 0.3%.
This tracked falls on Wall Street and in Asia, which came as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) compounded global economic woes by issuing a warning to the eurozone.
“After cutting global growth forecasts, the IMF maintained its gloomy prognosis warning that the Eurozone debt crisis fix is “critically incomplete” and that it remains a key threat to global financial stability - without swift resolution, the regions banks would likely suffer from capital flight/balance sheet contraction,” said Michael van Dulken from Accendo Markets.
Mexico-based precious metals firm Fresnillo (LON:FRES) was the biggest faller, down 3.5% to 1,905 pence, while Polymetal (LON:POLY) also tumbled 2.5%.
Only Anglo American (LON:AAL) bucked the trend, rising 2%.
Financial stocks propped up the leaderboard, with Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) up 3.4%, RBS (LON:RBS) up 2.2%, while Barclays (LON:BA.C) and HSBC (LON:HSBA) also nipped up.
BAE Systems (LON:BA.) will be in focus this afternoon after it was revealed the proposed merger with aerospace firm EADS has been scrapped following a raft of opposition from both governments and shareholders alike.
Shares have traded 1.9% lower so far today.