London's blue chip index sank below the 5,300 level in the opening minutes on Monday, as the debt crisis in Europe took centre stage again, dampening sentiment.

Investors seeking a resolution to the problems were disheartened after a meeting of EU finance ministers in Poland on Friday failed to live up to expectations. "There is a firm 'risk-off' tone to the start of the week. A combination of impasse and disagreement at the Finance Minister meeting in Poland on Fri/Sat and an outburst from the Greek FinMin is not helping sentiment," wrote Goldman Sachs to clients this morning.

The banks were the heaviest fallers, with Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and Lloyds leading the decline. Lloyds was nearly 5% lower after announcing that two of its boardroom members, finance director Tim Tookey and Scottish Widows' deputy chairman Lord Sandy Leitch, have decided to call its quits.

A broad sell-off in commodities hit the miners hard, with copper prices falling over 2.4% by the open. Antofagasta, Kazakhmys, Fresnillo, Rio Tinto and Eurasian Natural Resources were among the worst performers. Commodities trading house Glencore was also out of favour.

Meanwhile, just five stocks were registering gains, with retailers Next, Kingfisher and Marks & Spencer among the lone risers.

FTSE 250 grocery deliver Ocado was a big mover, falling nearly 8% after saying that investment in customer services will decrease its full year profit figure. Nevertheless, gross sales rose 19.5% in the first two-third of the financial year, despite continuing capacity constraints at its Hatfield depot.

Travel company TUI Travel has chosen power systems giant Rolls-Royce to provide Trent 700 engines to power two Airbus A330 aircraft, due in 2012. Both stocks were unwanted early on.

Recycled packaging and office products group DS Smith was among the few risers on the FTSE 250 after announcing the sale of its paper mill in Devon, as part its strategy to reduce paper production in order to focus on recycled packaging for consumer goods.

'Imperial Leather' soap maker PZ Cussons said performance in the second half of the year has been in line with expectations, but the company's margins are under threat from rising raw material costs. Shares fell lower.

Cheese and milk producer Dairy Crest rose after saying that first half trading was in line and expressing confidence in full-year numbers.

Investment company Alliance Trust was out of favour after reporting a dramatic fall in revenue and profit for the six months to the end of July.

Online betting firm Sportingbet confirmed talks are continuing with Ladbrokes over a possible takeover. Ladbrokes' shares fell in the opening minutes.

Fashion group French Connection dropped despite saying that trading was back on track as it revealed an increase in half year profit and lifted its dividend payout.

Press reports about a possible fund-raising by Gulf Keystone have proved to be on the money. The AIM-listed oil and gas firm focused in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq confirmed it is considering its options with regards to an equity fund-raising. Shares fell into the red.

BC

FTSE 100 - Risers
Next (NXT) 2,625.00p +0.27%
Kingfisher (KGF) 254.10p +0.24%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 335.40p +0.12%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,301.50p +0.12%
Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 2,530.00p +0.04%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 22.76p -6.22%
Barclays (BARC) 155.10p -5.08%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 34.09p -4.79%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,243.00p -4.38%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 509.50p -4.32%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,015.00p -3.52%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,818.00p -3.40%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,505.00p -3.31%
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 646.00p -3.22%
Glencore International (GLEN) 440.45p -3.13%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,486.00p +3.89%
Rightmove (RMV) 1,273.00p +3.41%
WH Smith (SMWH) 519.00p +1.67%
Meggitt (MGGT) 324.80p +1.47%
BH Global Ltd. GBP Shares (BHGG) 1,203.00p +1.18%
UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 77.50p +1.17%
London & Stamford Property Ltd. (LSP) 121.70p +1.08%
Grainger (GRI) 96.90p +0.94%
Dixons Retail (DXNS) 11.60p +0.87%
DS Smith (SMDS) 201.90p +0.80%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 123.50p -7.63%
TUI Travel (TT.) 150.90p -4.79%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 33.00p -4.38%
Redrow (RDW) 105.40p -4.18%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 127.50p -4.14%
Cookson Group (CKSN) 440.40p -4.05%
Enterprise Inns (ETI) 39.00p -3.92%
Rank Group (RNK) 130.90p -3.68%
easyJet (EZJ) 318.90p -3.51%
Kier Group (KIE) 1,210.00p -3.43%

Related share prices
Barclays (BARC) share price
Ladbrokes (LAD) share price
Kingfisher (KGF) share price
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) share price
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) share price
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) share price
Rio Tinto (RIO) share price
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) share price
Alliance Trust (ATST) share price
Dairy Crest Group (DCG) share price
TUI Travel (TT.) share price
Next (NXT) share price
Smith (DS) (SMDS) share price
Antofagasta (ANTO) share price
French Connection Group (FCCN) share price
PZ Cussons (PZC) share price
Sportingbet (SBT) share price
Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (DI) (GKP) share price
Kazakhmys (KAZ) share price
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) share price
Fresnillo (FRES) share price
Ocado Group (OCDO) share price
Glencore International (GLEN) share price