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According to Reuters, the index had lost 0.3 per cent by 09:15 BST, putting it on 5,055.26 points.
There were falls of between 0.5 per cent and 1.1 per cent for Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, HSBC and Standard Chartered, while energy stocks also dropped, led by slides of one per cent and 1.5 per cent for BG group and BP respectively.
Angus Campbell of London's Capital Spreads said "general concern over the debt situation" in Europe is affecting sentiment.
"There does not look like there is much light at the end of the tunnel," he was quoted by the news agency as saying.
British Airways, which earlier today announced an annual loss of £531 million - its biggest since being privatised in 1987 - was up 0.3 per cent.
A poll by Reuters suggested the loss was not as large as analysts had been expecting.
Posted by Greg Secker
