After the sluggish UK growth figures earlier on Tuesday, continuing concerns about the stalemate over America's debt problem are keeping the pressure on the markets.
Wall Street is down nearly 100 points in early trading, despite better than expected US consumer confidence figures and new home figures showing the housing market might be stabilising. House sales fell 1% in June, but prices rose 5.8%. But the overriding worry is still the deadlock over increasing the US debt ceiling, with analysts concerned that even with an agreement, the country could still lose its cherished Triple-A credit rating.
So the FTSE 100 is currently down 15.10 points at 5910.16, not helped by the continuing Eurozone problems, which are helping to push banks lower.
