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The index was 1.1 per cent lower at 11:57 GMT, Reuters reports, with mining stocks falling after a drop in the price of metals.
Vedanta Resources was down 3.9 per cent after it was also downgraded by Deutsche Bank, while there were falls of between 3.2 per cent and 6.2 per cent from Rio Tinto, Kazakhmys, Fresnillo and Eurasian Natural Resources.
Energy stocks - including BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Cairn Energy and Tullow Oil - were also lower, however supermarkets and some life insurers helped limit the FTSE's decline.
Tesco was up one per cent following the release of strong Christmas trading and Standard Life and Prudential climbed by as much as 0.9 per cent.
Joshua Raymond of City Index noted that investors began to "cash in their profits" yesterday after rises on European markets, a trend that continued today.
Posted by Chris Weaver
