3.30pm: Wall Street weakens
Wall Street weakened this afternoon, while London's large-caps also struggled to make any headway. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 21 points to 12335 after data pointed to a slowdown in US growth. Earnings at companies such as Costco Wholesale also disappointed.
The FTSE 100 was virtually flat, easing 2 points to 5855 while the FTSE 250 slid 38 points to 11810.
1.10pm: FTSE flat on GDP figures
The benchmark index just about held steady as traders breathed a sigh of relief that there was no deterioration in UK gross domestic product. The FTSE 100 was off just 3 points to 5855 although the FTSE 250 shed 32 points to 11826.
Amongst the mid-caps, Cable & Wireless Communications took a tumble, sliding 4.82 to 43.18p, as the telecoms group pointed to challenging trading in the Caribbean.
"We have had to navigate some choppy waters in the Caribbean," chief executive Tony Rice in a call with reporters on Wednesday.
"We made no secret of the difficult economic and trading conditions we faced last year, which we continue to face and which we expect will continue next year."
The group, which traces its history back to British cable companies founded in the 1860s, said its other regions - Panama, Macau, and Monaco & Islands - performed better, with particular demand from Macau for mobile data connections.
At the other end of the spectrum, London Stock Exchange continued to be buoyed by the M&A rumour mill, rising 19 to 927p.
Gossips suggested that the bourse - which is trying to seal a tie-up with Canadian group, TMX - might be targeted by Nasdaq, or that the Hong Kong or Singapore exchanges could also be keen. But any buyer would have to contend with LSE's two biggest shareholders, Qatar and the Dubai exchange.
10.20am: FTSE pares its early losses
Having slipped back at the open, the FTSE 100 pared its losses to trade almost flat at 5858. The FTSE 250 shed 34 points to 11824.
After yesterday's commodity-driven rally, persistent concerns about the strength of the global economy and Greece's debt crisis once again cast a pall over investor sentiment.
Simon Denham, head of Capital Spreads, said:
Not wanting to sound like a broken record, but the selling pressure is being put down to worries over Greece. Many people are asking how such a small country can cause so much concern for global financial markets and the simple answer is that a default by Greece on repaying its debt could have shock waves through the banking sector and lead to another banking crisis and ultimately defaults by other countries. This is a snowball effect that everyone is desperate to avoid so soon after the last banking crisis only couple of years ago.
Also weighing on the index were a number of stocks going ex-dividend, with Next, International Power and Amec all trading without rights to their latest shareholder payout.
Meanwhile, Glencore International slipped back almost 1pc on its first day on the FTSE 100.
Shares in the commodities trading giant fell as much as 3pc on their Hong Kong debut on Wednesday, with Asian investors spooked by concerns over valuations and the outlook for commodities.
9.15am: European stocks dip
Frankfurt's DAX 30 dipped 1.0pc to 7,079.25, and in Paris the CAC 40 shed 0.69pc to 3,889.72.
6am: Falling Japanese exports weigh on Asian markets
Sagging exports from earthquake-hobbled Japan and Europe's deepening debt crisis sent Asian share markets lower on Wednesday.
Tey Tze Ming, a trader at Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore, said investors see trouble on the horizon and have decided to shy away from riskier assets.
"Our forecast for stocks over the next three or four months is that they are probably going to be going sideways, or down," he said.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 0.4pc to 9,442.89 after the government released figures showing the country's export sector capsized in April after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami destroyed hundreds of factories, caused massive production disruptions, and forced manufacturers like Toyota to suspend production.
Sony shares tumbled 2.4pc after the electronics and entertainment giant announced it had suffered another online security breach, this time for 2,000 customers in Canada. More than 100m online accounts have been affected in a suspected hacking of Sony's PlayStation Network gaming service and other online services that began last month.
Sentiment in Asia was dampened after Japan said exports fell 12.5pc in April from a year earlier - a dismal number that underscores how badly Japan was disabled by the March disasters centered on its industrial northeast.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.6pc to 22,604.76, while the benchmark in China also slumped.
Markets faced troubling news about Europe on Tuesday, when Greece's main opposition party said it opposed the government's latest attempts to reduce debt. The news further dimmed hopes that the country might be able to repair its finances enough to get another loan package from the International Monetary Fund.
Fears that a Greek default could start a chain reaction affecting larger countries like Spain - the fourth-largest economy in Europe - pushed Wall Street lower. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.2pc to close at 12,356.21. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 0.1pc to 1,316.28. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.5pc to 2,746.16.
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