The early gains made by markets in the wake of more dovish than expected minutes from the US Federal Reserve have soon evaporated.
Optimism that a US rate rise was further away than some had feared has been outweighed by continuing concerns about the state of the global economy, notably in the eurozone and, in particular, Germany.
To add to the litany of bad economic news from Germany came a 5.8% slump in exports in August, raising further fears the country could be facing recession.
On top of that, of course, there are the underlying geopolitical worries - Isis, Ukraine, the spread of Ebola.
So the FTSE 100, which hit 6544 in the morning, is now down 45.01 points at 6437.23, on course for its lowest close for a year.
The falls accelerated as Wall Street opened, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average currently 112 points lower after Wednesday's Fed fuelled rise. Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said:
The post-Fed minutes exuberance didn't last too long in Europe when reality sank in that Europe's still in trouble after more weak data from Germany and the bankruptcy of Espirito Santo Financial Group offered a reminder of the fragility of the European banking system.
