Britain's top share index was 0.1 percent lower in early trade on Wednesday as weakness in defensive issues, such as drug and tobacco stocks, and heavyweight oils offset gains from miners and banks.
By 0757 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was down 6.11 points at 4,223.91 after closing 4.03 points lower on Tuesday.
"Essentially the market has been consolidating since early May, with the FTSE going nowhere … the market rallied in the hope it would get better now we need to see the evidence come through," said Andrew Bell, European strategist at Rensburg Sheppards Investment Management.
"The evidence inevitably takes longer to come through than the hope."
After recent rallies by defensive stocks, some profit-taking emerged for heavyweight drugmakers, tobacco, and household goods stocks with sector rotation the main market activity.
GlaxoSmithKline shed 1.7 percent. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it will not approve GlaxoSmithKline's experimental nausea drug Rezonic for cancer or surgical patients, the drugmaker said late on Tuesday.
Peers AstraZenca and Shire lost 0.7 and 0.8 percent, respectively.
British American Tobacco fell 1.1 percent, with Imperial Tobacco off 0.8 percent, household product firm Unilever dropped 1.7 percent, and multi-utility Scottish & Southern Energy shed 1.4 percent.
Ex-dividend factors accounted for the top two FTSE 100 fallers, with Friends Provident down 3.9 percent and Experian off 3.2 percent.
OILS FALL, MINERS SHINE
Weak oil majors were a drag on blue chip sentiment as crude fell back below $69, with BP, Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group down 0.1 to 0.8 percent.
However, strength in heavyweight mining issues was a counter to the market falls, with metal prices rising as the dollar weakened reviving interest in the sector.
Anglo American was the top FTSE 100 gainer, up 3.8 percent as takeover speculation continued to swirl around the stock following the miners rejection on Monday of a merger of equals proposed by Xstrata.
Takeover interest in Anglo American has revived the prospect of a sale of heavy building materials group Tarmac, its most out-of-place division, The Financial Times said.
Among other firm miners, Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, Kazakhmys, Eurasian Natural Resources, and Xstrata gained between 2.1 and 3.8 percent.
Banks also found support after recent falls, as investors awaited news from the U.S. Federal Reserve later on Wednesday.
Standard Chartered, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland gained between 0.2 and 2.5 percent. However, HSBC slipped 0.5 percent.
The Fed is widely expected to keep interest rates on hold at a record low and maintain its planned debt purchases, so the focus will be on whether the bank tweaks its statements to reign in the slide in U.S. Treasuries that threatens the economy's budding recovery.
Before the Fed decision, which will be announced after European markets have closed, investors will look to UK and U.S. data for further evidence of possible recovery in the domestic and global economy.
The Confederation of British Industry distributive trades data will be released at 1000 GMT and U.S. new home sales will be announced at 1400 GMT.
Japan said exports continued to tumble in May, further evidence that the recovery in the global economy, that some investors have been expecting, is some way off.
