The London market struggled to make headway after a credit rating downgrade in France sparked further uncertainty in Europe.

The FTSE 100 Index, which rallied more than 2% on Monday amid optimism that the US will avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, closed 10.4 points higher at 5748.1.

While Moody’s decision to downgrade France was widely expected by the markets, it highlighted the ongoing struggles across the single-currency bloc and the London market spent most of the session in the red.

And traders were anticipating a quiet week in the US due to the Thanksgiving holiday, which will see markets close on Thursday and early on Friday.

The pound was higher than the euro at 1.24 due to the volatility in the region, while sterling was also higher than the US dollar at 1.59.

The biggest Footsie risers were Xstrata up 29.8p at 986.6p, Burberry ahead 33p at 1247p, Intercontinental Hotels up 43p at 1633p and International Airlines Group ahead 4.2p at 167.6p

The biggest Footsie fallers were ARM Holdings down 20.5p at 726.5p, Meggitt off 5.2p at 375.6p, Barclays down 3.3p at 246.5p, and Imperial Tobacc off 32p at 2428p.