London open: Financial drag Footsie towards 5,000

The poor performance seen Monday has continued with the Footsie dropping towards the 5,000 mark once again in the opening minutes, as concerns in the Eurozone continue to dominate the markets.Nevertheless, there were further messages of support for Greece - even if they have yet to be backed up by more money - from Eurozone finance ministers, who met in Luxembourg yesterday to consider whether the debt-laden Mediterranean country should get its next slug of bail-out money.Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the Eurogroup finance minister committee, repeatedly made plain early on Tuesday that none of the eurozone countries was urging a Greek default and categorically denied that there was any question of Greece leaving the euro area, according to The Guardian.Greece revealed on Sunday that despite its tough austerity measures, the debt-stricken country will miss its deficit target for this year and the next, as it unveiled plans for job cuts across the public sector.Supermarket peers Tesco and Morrison were the sole risers early on, ahead of the former's interim results due on Wednesday. Tesco rose 1.4%, helped by a ratings upgrade by UBS from neutral to buy, as the Swiss broker added the stock to its 'Key Calls' list.Meanwhile, financials were providing a drag, as sentiment is dragged lower by the ongoing debt crisis in Europe. Man Group, Barclays and Legal & General were among the worst performers. Royal Bank of Scotland was out of favour on reports that a £1.4bn deal between itself and Blackstone to dispose of the bank's troubled property loans could fail.Heating and plumbing giant Wolseley was sinking despite resuming its final dividend for the year ended 31 July as it swung to a pre-tax profit of £391m, up from a loss of £328m the year before.On the FTSE 250, Home Retail was in demand on the back of takeover rumours. Among the possible suitors which are being talked about are Wal-Mart and a US private equity fund.AZ Electronics, which produces speciality chemical materials to technological manufacturers, was the heaviest faller after acquiring the polysilazanes coatings and resins business of Swiss firm Clariant AG, for a cash consideration of around €4m.Heritage Oil was lower after spending $19.5m buying the rights to provide oil field services in Libya.OTHER MARKETSBrent crude has fallen even closer to the $100 level, dropped 0.9% to $100.79.Copper and silver prices were 1.8% and 0.4% lower, while gold edged 0.6% higher.Nevertheless, Goldman Sachs has predicted that commodity prices could jump 20% over the next 12 months, helped by strong growth in the emerging markets. The investment bank kept its overweight position on commodities.BCFTSE 100 - RisersTesco (TSCO) 375.75p +1.42%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 287.10p +0.07%FTSE 100 - FallersMan Group (EMG) 154.70p -3.79%Barclays (BARC) 150.85p -3.46%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 149.20p -3.43%Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 579.00p -3.18%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 985.00p -3.15%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 92.50p -3.14%Lonmin (LMI) 998.00p -3.01%GKN (GKN) 163.00p -2.98%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,435.00p -2.97%Anglo American (AAL) 2,150.00p -2.89%FTSE 250 - RisersLaird (LRD) 141.70p +2.53%Home Retail Group (HOME) 121.50p +2.45%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 11.53p +1.86%Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 568.50p +0.89%Rank Group (RNK) 116.90p +0.78%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 522.00p +0.77%Carillion (CLLN) 330.50p +0.67%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 782.50p +0.51%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 86.45p +0.46%Ocado Group (OCDO) 99.45p +0.45%FTSE 250 - FallersAZ Electronic Materials SA (WI) (AZEM) 210.80p -4.87%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 409.80p -3.64%Inchcape (INCH) 274.70p -3.58%Redrow (RDW) 108.20p -3.57%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 252.80p -3.55%Renishaw (RSW) 953.00p -3.49%Allied Gold Mining (ALD) 168.00p -3.45%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 403.80p -3.40%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 458.80p -3.37%SThree (STHR) 226.90p -2.99%