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At 09:30 BST, the index was down 8.95 points at 5,234.44 points, Reuters reports, despite the fact that oil stocks were popular with investors.
BG Group, BP and Royal Dutch Shell saw gains of between 0.3 per cent and 0.7 per cent due to the price of oil remaining close to the 12-month high it reached earlier in the week.
There were also gains in the food retail sector, with Morrison, Sainsbury's and Tesco all climbing.
Despite this, any potential rise on the index was offset by drops in the insurance sector, with Prudential retreating by one per cent and Aviva, Old Mutual and Standard Life also seeing falls.
Market analyst Nicola Poskitt remarked that there is a possibility the FTSE will fall to the 5,150 point level seen last week.
"If the market trades below 5,150, we could see a more significant correction take place," she stated.
