Weakness among the mining groups and disappointing US weekly jobs figures are putting the market under renewed pressure.
Fears of more monetary tightening in China have been growing, following higher bank lending figures and signs of inflationary pressures. If the Chinese do act, that could stifle demand for commodities, hence a drop in the likes of Kazakhmys, down 52p at £14.93, and Xstrata, down 36.5p at £11.74.
So with news of a slightly smaller than expected fall in US weekly jobless claims, Wall Street is down nearly 40 points in early trading, and the FTSE 100 has fallen 45.57 points to 5595.0. But volumes are nothing to write home about, as investors take a breather after the market's recent peaks.
