In early trade, the FTSE100 was down 45.84 points at 5,291.16 with the FTSE250 off 86.43 points at 9,945.17 and the FTSE Smallcaps 7.52 points lower at 2,711.32.

US & ASIA

In the US last night, the Dow added 33 points at 11,556, the Nasdaq fell 12 points at 2,516 and the S&P500 rose 3 points at 1,195.

In Asia today, the Nikkei closed down 43 points at 8,435, while the Hang Seng was recently off 267 points at 17,989.

LONDON MARKETS

A wide-ranging rating downgrade of global banks by Standard & Poor's set the tone for the day in London, with Barclays amongst those hardest hit. At the same time, fears of falling demand hit resources prices, pushing down miners and oil producers.

With the UK gripped by strikes and GfK reporting continued low levels of consumer confidence, it was difficult to find anything to raise the spirits.

In the banking sector, Barclays took the biggest hit, down 4.15p at 164.85p, while Royal Bank of Scotland fell 0.42p at 19.1p, HSBC slipped 8.62p at 477.93p and Lloyds lost 0.41p at 22.77p.

Insurers were also under fire, with Prudential the weakest link, losing 13.25p at 597.25p. Aviva fell 4.05p at 298.75p and Standard Life eased 1.8p at 195.1p.