At midday, hedge fund manager Man Group was still the biggest blue chip faller, down 5% or 5.4p at 101.5p. The FTSE is now down more than 30 points at 5746, a 0.5% drop.
Bid speculation drove shares in Man Group up more than 10% over the last week, but Peel Hunt analyst Mark Williamson says renewed European economic uncertainty in the wake of Spain's credit rating downgrade last week and its slide into a double dip recession today, could hit Man Group.
It is one of the most actively traded stocks today, says Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at Interactive Investor.
Seeing bouts of selling after their recent run and Man have a lot of work to do in restoring confidence from their investors.
Drug stocks fared better, led by AstraZeneca, up 1.1% earlier today (now trading 7p or 0.3% higher at £26.88), as both JPMorgan Cazenove and Jefferies upgraded their ratings for the firm. The shares plunged 6.1% last Thursday when the firm, Britain's second-largest drugmaker, announced the shock departure of its chief executive David Brennan alongside poor first-quarter figures.
GlaxoSmithKline, up 6p or 0.4% to £14.29, also continued its recovery after a disappointing reaction to results last week.
