Lacklustre FTSE retreats further from recent peak

The FTSE 100 was lower once again during afternoon trading as the blue chip index continues to retreat from its recent peak above 6,800.

Despite a new record level for US indices seen overnight - where the Dow Jones passed through the 16,000 point mark for the first time ever -the UK continues to edge lower. By 2:10pm it was off 0.1% at 6,676 points, with mining stocks and TUI Travel all weighing on the index alongside Aberdeen Asset Management's shares. The latest losses leave the FTSE 100 on course to record a third successive week of declines. Elsewhere, in Asia the Hang Seng closed up 0.5% at 23,696 points overnight, while the Nikkei was flat, up just 0.1% at 15,381 points.