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At 08:45 BST, the index was down 31 points to 4,865, Citywire reports, with companies in the mining sector among the biggest fallers.
Lonmin, Xstrata and Kazakhmys retreated by between 30p and 50p, while a number of banks - including Standard Chartered and Lloyds Banking Group - also slid.
WPP Group, Cairn Energy and Petrofac were among the other firms that saw their share price edge lower in morning trading, but there were climbs for some defensive stocks, notably Vodafone, United Utilities, AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline.
Market strategist Joshua Raymond noted that many investors are awaiting the release of US house price and consumer confidence data, which comes out later today.
He added that the losses that have occurred this morning are not "dramatic" and there is no "significant sign" that the current optimism among investors has reversed.
