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At 09:07 BST the benchmark index had dropped to 4,884.95 points, Reuters reports, with banks and mining firms contributing to the fall.
Lloyds Banking Group was down 2.7 per cent, while shares in HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays also slid.
And in the mining sector, Anglo American, Lonmin and Xstrata all fell, while oil firms BP, Cairn Energy and Royal Dutch Shell also began the day lower.
Companies in the pharmaceutical sector helped limit the losses on the FTSE, as GlaxoSmithKline and Shire climbed by 2.1 per cent and 1.9 per cent respectively.
And Diageo, British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco all rose as investors increased their interest in defensive stocks.
There was no trading yesterday due to the bank holiday, but last Friday the FTSE rose in the morning session on the strength of commodity firms and banks.
