With blue-chip news thin on the ground at the start of a new month it was a case of 'as you were' with investors still hitting Tesco's (LON:TSCO) sell button after Friday's profit warning.
Falling 1.9%, or 4.35p, in opening deals shares in the increasingly troubled UK grocer topped the list of FTSE 100 losers.
Tesco was a drag on the blue chip index as was supermarket rivals Sainsbury (LON:SBRY) and Morrisons (LON:MRW), as well as drug-maker Shire (LON:SHP) and Coca Cola HBC (LON:CCH) falling 1.3% and 1% respectively.
In early trade the FTSE 100 was down just a few points at 6,818.
Nevertheless a handful of stocks showed promising signs for the benchmark to rally, with BAE Systems (LON:BA.) and ITV (LON:ITV) topping the leader board followed by Mexican silver miner Fresnillo (LON:FRES) - respectively rising 2.43%, 1.85% and 1.5%.
In the small cap market Seeing Machines (LON:SEE) was among Monday's stand-outs, jumping 23% as a new deal promises to bring the firm's driver fatigue monitoring technology to the mass market.
A new 15-year tie-up with Takata, a leading developer of driver safety systems, will see the Seeing Machines product in cars - up to now the emphasis has been on heavy-duty mining vehicles and haulage fleets.
David Lenigas's new vehicle Evocutis (LON:EVO) continued to ride a wave of investor enthusiasm, gaining another 48% this morning - after a 200% rise on Friday.
Forbidden Technologies (LON:FBT) has released a prototype version of its video-sharing technology. The product, called Eva, lets people share video clips online using Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS mobile operating systems.
Theme park ticketing firm Galasys (LON:GLS) posted a 35% increase in pre-tax profit in its maiden half year results an expects to expand futher its market coverage in China and other Asian countries.
Low-cost African airline Fastjet (LON:FJET) is going to start flights between the capital cities of Tanzania and Uganda. Tickets for the routes go on sale today.
The flights between Dar es Salaam and Entebbe are the only direct links between the capitals, Fastjet said.
In the junior oil and gas sector, Northcote Energy (LON:NCT) is acquiring a 37.5% interest in the Alta Loma Field in Texas from Springer Oil & Gas. The terms of the deal are US$100,000 payable on the successful drilling of well with initial production in excess of 300 barrels a day and there’s also a US$50,000 capital expenditure credit.
Alta Loma, which covers 444 acres, currently produces 30.7 barrels of oil a day, from the Sunny Ernst 1-2 well.
Leni Gas & Oil (LON:LGO) is confident of seeing excellent production rates from its new wells on the Gouron fields. Production from four recently drilled wells will shortly begin to come online now that work is complete for the fourth and final well at then current drilling location.
IGas Energy (LON:IGAS) has told investors it is well placed to add more UK shale assets in the upcoming government auctions.
The company is set become the leading British shale firm with the completion of its acquisition of Dart Energy, and a statement ahead of today's annual general meeting (AGM) it confirmed it will participate in the government's upcoming 14th Onshore Licensing Round.
At the bottom of the AIM market Bglobal (LON:BGBL) was the junior market's biggest loser on Monday, falling more than 80% to 2.25p. The other notable fallers included Mercer Resources (LON:MCR) and Vitesse Media (LON:VIS), down 23% and 14% respectively.