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The FTSE 100 is trading down with just one week left before the UK goes to the polls in the general election on 12 December.
The political parties enter their final week of campaigning, with the Conservatives leading in the polls.
At 8.40am, the FTSE 100 had lost 0.11%, 7.82 points lower, to trade at 7,180.68.
DS Smith, the packaging company, is among the biggest fallers, down 3.4% to 365.82p, despite reporting record group profitability and return on sales, as sustainable packaging lifted performance in the six months to 31 October 2019.
The company saw pre-tax profit rise 31% to £213m, while revenue increased 4% to £3.1bn.
Publishing firm Daily Mail & General Trust gained 1.9% to 813p as it reported a 19% increase in underlying adjusted pre-tax profit to £145m for the 12 months to 30 September. Statutory profit fell sharply reflecting the impact of recent disposals.
Soft furnishings firm Dunelm gained 17.8% to 980p as it guided for full year profit to come in ahead of expectations thanks to strong sales growth around its online launch.
Victrex, a polymer solutions company, has shed 1.7% to trade at £23.00 as group revenue, group sales and pre-tax profits were all lower in the 12 months ended 30 September 2019.
Chief executive Jakob Sigurdsson said full-year performance was in line with expectations but that 'a deterioration during the second half in automotive, electronics and value added resellers' had offset any growth.
St. Modwen Properties is a climber in early trading, up 1.6% to 455.50p after it reported strong growth in its St. Modwen Homes and industrial and logistics business units during 2019, in a trading update for the period to 30 November.
St. Modwen Homes' sales volumes increased 25% to 1,060 units, which is at the top end of its target to grow volumes by up to 25% per annum.