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According to Reuters, mining stocks contributed to a 0.5 per cent dip by 12:12 GMT, with firms in the sector down by as much as 3.6 per cent in the morning.
It represented the fifth consecutive session in which the FTSE 100 has dropped, with 27.28 points being shed.
Among those losing out where Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, which both declined by more than two per cent from share prices on news of an EU investigation into a joint iron ore venture.
And although defensive stocks rose, the banking sector suffered as Barclays, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland all dipped.
The market benefited little from the news that the UK is no longer is in recession, with the 0.1 per cent growth for the final quarter below the 0.4 per cent predicted by economists polled by the news source this week.
Posted by Chris Weaver
