There was cautious optimism over yesterday's market rally with one analyst commenting that it could be "a dead cat bounce".
As markets opened today it appeared he was right to be wary.
Yet again it was the tumultuous banking sector that dragged down on the UK's index of leading shares.
The FTSE 100 was down 32 points or 0.55% at 5821.4 as investors expected little cheer for the Bank of England's interest rate decision at midday today. It is widely expected that rates will remain on hold at 5.25%.
The European Central Bank also announces its rates decision today and policymakers are not expected to ease borrowing costs either.
Barclays, Lloyds TSB and HSBC all ticked down between 1.1 and 2.1%, reversing some of the gains made by HSBC today after a broker upgrade.
But this was hardly surprising for analysts who still point to many problems in the markets, which are adding to the downward pressure.
The FTSE 100 may have spent most of last week above 6,000, but many are expecting it to slump back below 5,500 in the coming week.
But there may be rays of hope from soaring commodity prices. US stocks rose last night on the back of them and this morning miners and energy firms were faring well, helping to prop up the UK market after oil hit a new record high and gold prices eyed the $1,000 an ounce mark.
Among the winners this morning was Kazakhmys up 3.64%, BHP Billiton up 1.39%, British Energy up over 5%, and Scottish and Southern Energy along with the National Grid who gained ground over 1%.
