A relatively firm opening on Wall Street has seen the London market recover from the worst of its falls.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up around 20 points in early trading, in the wake of Apple's better than expected figures overnight and a good performance from Morgan Stanley. So the FTSE 100 is now down 38.02 points at 5745.67 have been as low as 5721.28.
Miners are still under pressure following disappointing production numbers and news of a US regulatory probe from BHP Billiton, down 43p at £21.73. Rival Rio Tinto is off 72.5p at £37.26 while Vedanta Resources has fallen 66p to £26.81. Xstrata is 34.5p lower at 1182.5p despite vague talk of a possible bid from Brazil's Vale, although some of this is due to the company's shares going ex-dividend.
BAE Systems is the day's biggest FTSE 100 faller so far, down 16.8p at 360.6p, but again much of this is accounted for by going ex-dividend.
Apple's success continues to lift component suppliers Arm, up 9.7p at 252.7p, and Imagination Technologies, 13.1p better at 265p. Both have seen revived rumours that they may be in the sights of predators, with traders talking of Apple interest in Arm and Intel possibly moving on Imagination.
On a more global front, talks began today between Greece and European and IMF officials about an aid package for the debt-laden country. A joint text will be agreed by May 15, but the uncertainty has once more hit Greek bonds, with the spreads between Greek and German yields hitting a 12 year high. The cost of insuring against a Greek default climbed to a record high, while the euro fell for a fifth day against the dollar and is now down around half a per cent at $1.3374.
