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At 12:28 GMT the index was down 25 points at 5,082.98, Reuters reports, with mining companies contributing to the slide.
Kazakhmys, Rio Tinto, Vedanta Resources, Xstrata and BHP Billiton were all weaker during the morning session, recording falls of between 1.1 per cent and 3.1 per cent.
Barclays, Standard Chartered, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group all retreated in the financial sector, while the release of unfavourable trading updates prompted Cable & Wireless and Invensys to drop - the former sliding 7.8 per cent.
The fall is in contrast to the strong performances that were seen on the FTSE during morning trading yesterday, when the index rose on the back of positive financial results from retailers Marks & Spencer and Next.
Posted by Greg Secker
