On Friday, the FTSE 100 index went below the 6,000 point mark as the investors who were hoping to get positive US job data were disappointed. Not only that, even the German retail sales figures were in the negative zone and that made the expectations from the third quarter of eurozone GDP even gloomier.

Moreover, there is a significant worry about the debt situation of these nations and that is what is pushing down the market sentiment even more.

During the first trading session of the year, the FTSE 100 went down the 6,000 psychological mark and it saw a decline of 0.6 per cent or 35 points to be at 5,984.

The London stock exchange was able to stay in the positive and gain 1.43 per cent. The FTSE 250 index went down by 43 points or 0.4 per cent to be at 11,674.

The trend was similar to the previous day when selling in mining stocks was seen together with expectations from the US job report. But both turned out to be negative and that was reflected in the sentiments.