European debt concerns send Wall Street and London lower

An opening fall on Wall Street has taken some of the shine of the UK market, but the root cause of the malaise is across the channel.

The growing financial worries about European countries such as Greece, Spain and Portugal - and the fear of Lehman-like contagion spreading across the continent - have unnerved US investors despite last week's better than expected American non-farm payrolls.

So with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 60 points in early trading, the FTSE 100 has reversed its earlier gains and has now slipped 8.03 points to 5052.89.

Financials are under pressure, unsurprisingly, with Lloyds Banking Group 1.275p lower at 47.04p and Barclays down 4.75p at 264.25p. Analysts at Matrix Corporate Capital reckon Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, down 0.5p at 31.77p, are the two UK banks potentially facing much higher refinancing risks in the near-term due to the sovereign debt crisis.

Insurers are also unwanted, with Legal and General down 3p at 70.65p and Aviva falling 14.9p to 350.2p. Talk that Resolution, supposedly a predator for a UK insurer, had turned its attention to Europe or indeed RBS bank branches instead did not help sentiment in the sector.

Miners are preventing the market taking a bigger dive. Following positive updates Xstrata has added 31p to £20.57 and Randgold Resources has risen 221p to £44.30.