The FTSE 100 opened lower as it took its cue from Wall Street's losses overnight, with tech stocks in particular under pressure.
An hour into trade, London's blue-chip index was a third of a percent down at 8,674.
In company news, Haleon has agreed to buy £170 million of its shares back from former parent company Pfizer, which is also selling the rest of its stake in the company to institutional investors.
M&G said it is moving to a progressive dividend policy, starting with a 2% increase to this year's total dividend per share, as it continues its transformation under CEO Andrea Rossi. The FTSE 100 group reported a 5% rise in underlying operating profits to £837 million last year, as profits from its asset management business rose 19% to offset a flat contribution from the life business.
Filtronic has strengthened its strategic partnership with SpaceX to give a stronger guarantee of the flow of future orders for the E-band amplifiers that it supplies for the Starlink satellite programme. The Country Durham business has issued warrants to SpaceX that will enable the US company to subscribe for a stake of up to 5%.
