London’s blue chips struggled to make headway after the battering for Asian and shares over the weekend and Friday.
FTSE 100 was 30 points lower at 5,774 with oil again causing the brunt of the worries.
Crude dipped below US$30 per barrel again as Iran was let back into the international fold as sanctions were lifted after its nuclear deal.
“The very real prospect of another leg down for oil towards $20/barrel, prolonging the commodity sector correction, is keeping sentiment in check, along with weakness in financials as Italian banks shares fall on political deadlock and fears of Eurozone crisis re-ignition,” said Mike van Dulken, Head of Research at Accendo Markets.
Risers today included contract caterer Compass (LON:CPG) up and recent bid chatter favourite Imperial Tobacco (LON:IMT).
Fallers included Sports Direct (LON:SPD) down 2.9% to 398p, Pearson (LON:PSON) shed 2% to 695p while RBS (LON;RBS) was 1.7% light at 260p.
Small caps saw some notable movers.
Empyrean Energy (LON:EME) jumped 75% to 8.75p as it sold a small stake in the Eagle Ford shale field in Texas for £50mln.
AIM-listed Active Energy Group (LON:AEG) WoodFibre arm, based in Ukraine, has landed two “significant” supply contracts expected to generate revenues of US$50mln this year. Shares rose 7% to 5.50p.
Fuel cell specialist Ceres Power (LON:CWR) rose 10% to 4.75p after it deepened its relationship with Japanese powerhouse Honda.
A move in to energy also gave Bushveld Minerals (LON:BMN) a 12% leg-up to 3.09p.
Altona Energy (LON:ANR) fell 25% to 0.52p after a delay of around three weeks in money from Sinoa-Aus, which recently participated in a share subscription.