The FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 6,823 early on after having risen to 6,839.25 on Thursday, its highest closing mark since February 24th.

Over in Europe, stocks were falling after the STOXX Europe 600 Index closed at its highest level since January 2008.

Global stock markets performed well yesterday on the back of dovish comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who signalled that policymakers are ready to act next month to stimulate the Eurozone economy.

Meanwhile, upbeat jobless claims figures in the US gave sentiment a lift, along with words from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen who reiterated that interest rates will remain low for a long time yet.

“Trading this morning appears to be reversing some of the gains made in the previous session,” said analysts at Capital Spreads.

“Opportunities to trade some news volatility today are limited really to UK industrial and manufacturing production [data], but with all the goings on in the Ukraine and the weekend break to come, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see some money taken out of risk based assets later on.”

Petrofac plummets after profit warning

Shares in oilfield services firm Petrofac sank as much as 17% after the company delivered a profit warning, saying that its bottom line in 2014 is likely to weaken due to lower-than-expected earnings from its IES division. The company, which had previous guided to “flat to modest growth” in net profit this year, now expects to report a 9-11% decline.

British Airways– and Iberia-owner IAG was flying higher after narrowing operating losses in the first quarter, helped by higher revenue and reduced fuel costs.

Insurer Friends Life was lower after warning that measures in the UK government’s Budget will hit its ability to achieve new business targets this year. Friends Life, formerly known as Resolution, said Chancellor George Osborne’s decision to relax rules forcing people to buy annuities to fund their retirement would have longer-term implications for its business and the industry as a whole.

Media group WPP gained this morning after sector peers Omnicom and Publicis abandoned their $35bn merger to create the world’s largest advertising company.

British Land fell despite saying it has completed its first letting at Marble Arch House in the West End as the real estate stock was downgraded to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ at Liberum.

Similarly, Rolls-Royce‘s announcement of £60m of orders for its offshore ship designs and equipment underwhelmed the market after Barclays cut its rating to ‘underweight’ from ‘overweight’.

Department stores Marks & Spencer and Debenhams were trading higher early on after high street peer John Lewis reported 14.5% annual sales growth in the week to May 3rd.

FTSE 100 – Risers
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 457.80p +1.87%
Barclays (BARC) 265.35p +1.10%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,238.00p +1.03%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,011.00p +0.84%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,568.00p +0.84%
WPP (WPP) 1,287.00p +0.78%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 407.70p +0.77%
CRH (CRH) 1,693.00p +0.65%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,598.50p +0.60%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 97.20p +0.52%

FTSE 100 – Fallers
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,155.00p -16.79%
Sage Group (SGE) 391.00p -2.13%
Friends Life Group Limited (FLG) 297.10p -1.91%
Centrica (CNA) 314.60p -1.81%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 885.50p -1.77%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,347.00p -1.75%
SSE (SSE) 1,511.00p -1.37%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 433.60p -1.21%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 378.70p -0.99%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,003.00p -0.99%

Source: ShareCast