Following the recent see-saw pattern, after a day of gains on Tuesday the FTSE has started Wednesday in the red.
A clutch of miners, Vodafone and a handful of retailers are on the way up, but sell-offs for Xstrata, drugmakers and housebuilders have dragged the market lower overall.
The FTSE 100 is currently down 23 points, or 0.4%, at 5,666.1 following a mixed finish on Wall Street overnight.
Xstrata is currently the biggest bluechip faller in London after news that the miner's takeover talks with Brazil's Vale have failed. The shares are currently down 286p, or 7.7%, at £34.30.
Profit-taking is hitting other stocks, with yesterday's gainers from the construction sector lower today. Materials supplier Wolseley is down 3% and housebuilder Persimmon is off 2.3%. Similarly on the FTSE 250, Bovis Homes is down 6%.
Back in the mining sector, Kazakhmys is currently the FTSE 100's strongest performer boosted by the Kazakh government's plans to buy a big stake in the company. The shares are up 3.7%.
J Sainsbury is the second biggest riser, up 3.5%, after its trading update and the announcement of a £1.2bn joint venture with British Land for 39 stores.
The supermarket chain is investing £273m in the 10-year partnership, in which it will have a 50% stake.
Analysts at Citigroup commented on the deal: "The market has been clamouring for retailers to crystallise some value from their property portfolios by selling off property and returning cash. Sainsbury is essentially doing the reverse but this looks to us like the right thing longer term."
Finally, mobile phone giant Vodafone is up more than 3% after it said it expects to start receiving dividends next year from its US joint venture Verizon Wireless.
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