FTSE down ahead of U.S. jobs data

Energy companies, which gained in the previous session tracking higher oil prices, took most points off the index as crude dipped back below $70 per barrel.

BP , Royal Dutch Shell , BG Group and Tullow Oil fell 0.9-1.7 percent.

At 11:22 a.m., the blue chip index was 31.66 points lower at 4,390.05, after closing 91.50 points higher on Wednesday at 4,340.71 on the first day of the new quarter.

"Investors looked to profit take from yesterday's rally, with the energy and miners taking the brunt of the selling," said Joshua Raymond, Market Strategist at City Index.

U.S. FOCUS

Traders will be focussed on the United States this afternoon, with all the attention on non-farm payrolls data, bought forward a day from Friday this month due to the Independence Day holiday, as investors look for further direction.

Forecasters expected the figure to come in with a fall of 355,000 in June, after May's 345,000 decline, while U.S. unemployment was estimated to rise to 9.6 percent last month, up from 9.4 percent in May.

"I certainly think unemployment will continue to rise over the next few months and maybe into next year, and this will bring its own negative impact on aggregate demand," Batstone-Carr said.

Investors will also have the latest weekly U.S. jobless claims, May factory goods, and revised durable orders numbers to digest on Thursday.