FTSE advancing on good retail news
Marks & Spencer shares were testing the 400p barrier today as investors welcomed strong signs of a revival at the high street retailer.
The stock jumped 4% or 13p to 399.25p after M&S shocked investors for the right reasons – with a 1.3% jump in second quarter like-for-like sales and a forecast that profits would be at the upper end of market hopes.
With a survey by the British Retail Consortium suggesting that high-street conditions had stabilised, the Footsie advanced 28.4 points to 5402.9 by mid-morning.
M&S shares are now in line with the 400p that Bhs and Arcadia boss Philip Green was willing to pay last summer before aborting his £9.1bn (€13.3bn) takeover campaign.
Other retailers to improve included rival clothing chain Next which moved 15p higher to 1376p and B&Q owner Kingfisher, up 1.25p at 213.75p.
Elsewhere in the top flight, poker giant PartyGaming gained 2p to 73p after yesterday’s fall of 11%, while miners were showing positive signs after a volatile few sessions for the sector.
Antofagasta led the mining pack with an improvement of 39p to 1544p while Xstrata added 19p to 1449p and BHP Billiton gained 9.5p to 849.5p.
Also in the top flight, Cable & Wireless lost a further 2.25p at 116.75p following its profits warning last week.
Elsewhere, home shopping group N Brown advanced 12% or 16p to 149.25p after reporting half-year profits of £23.5m (€34.2m) and strong sales growth of 6.6% since the start of October.
The positive mood in the retail sector even buoyed WH Smith as the high street chain prepared to announce its annual results later this week.
The second-tier stock stood 16.5p higher at 350.5p, with food chain Greggs not far behind following a rise of 115p to 4965p.
