Bank Barclays (BARC.L) was the biggest FTSE 100 faller in morning trading (at 1005), dropping 3.3 per cent to 216p.

The banking sector was affected by the publication of European Banking Authority's (EBA) findings on stress testing.

The sector fell despite all UK banks passing the EBA's stress testing exercise.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS.L) dropped 3.1 per cent to 33.99p, while Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) fell 2.6 per cent to 43.53p.

Packaging company Rexam (REX.L) dropped 2.2 per cent to 371.1p, as Man Group (EMG.L) slipped 2 per cent to 236.3p

The biggest riser was Mexican silver miner Fresnillo (FRES.L), rising 1.7 per cent to 1,652p. Precious metals miners have been buoyed more recently by higher gold and silver prices.

Fresnillo was joined at the top by Randgold Resources (RRS.L) rose 0.7 per cent to 5,505p.

Microchip manufacturer Arm Holdings (ARM.L) was up 1.5 per cent to 572.5p, Centrica (CNA.L) rose 0.6 per cent to 319.4p and Autonomy (AU.L) added 0.3 per cent, up to 1,7229p.

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