FTSE 100 movers: M&S climbs on update; Glencore slips on downgrade

London’s FTSE 100 index was down 0.1% to 6,154.99 at 1410 BST, although retailer M&S bucked the trend.

Payments processor Worldpay was under pressure after private equity groups Advent International and Bain Capital sold a 12.5% stake in the company.

Glencore fell after JP Morgan Cazenove downgraded the stock to ‘neutral’ from ‘overweight’ saying the agriculture unit stake sale brings to a close the catalyst-rich deleveraging story.

Pearson, Aviva, Lloyds and Taylor Wimpey were in the red as their shares went ex-dividend.

Analyst Ian Whittaker of Liberum, issuing a 'sell' recommendation, also felt the shares were being hit by negative read-across from US for-profit higher education provider Apollo Education, which withdrew its full year guidance after admitting that numbers would be below expectations driven by lower than expected student numbers.

"Our biggest area of concern with Pearson is its US higher education business," Whittaker said, "which we estimate is at least a third of group profits: with for-profits structurally impacted and community college enrolments also down, enrolment issues are compounding Pearson’s structural problems with textbooks."

On the upside, though, Marks & Spencer was the standout gainer. Fourth quarter sales at the retailer were up 1.9% as the food business outperformed the market but was again held back by weak clothing sales.

Food sales were up 4% in total but flat on a like-for-like basis, short of a consensus forecast of 0.5%.

In general merchandise, sales were down 1.9% in total and 2.7% on a LFL basis, versus expectations of a 3.5% decline.

Supermarket Sainsbury's was also on the front foot after Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘underperform’ and lifted the price target to 290p from 240p.

The bank said the acquisition of Home Retail should boost profits, provide opportunities to grow sales, reduce costs, expand Sainsbury’s customer base and improve logistics.

Chip designer ARM Holdings rose after South Korea’s Samsung said it was forecasting a 10% increase in operating profit for the first quarter. ARM counts Samsung among its major customers.

United Utilities pushed higher, with traders pointing to rehashed speculation that it might be a target for infrastructure funds.

Pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Shire were in the black again as investors bet they might become bid targets following the collapse of the Pfizer/Allergan deal.

Risers

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 435.70p 3.64%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 285.90p 2.22%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,490.00p 1.88%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,046.00p 1.65%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 941.50p 1.29%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,209.00p 1.14%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,169.00p 1.01%
Sky (SKY) 1,019.00p 0.99%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,054.00p 0.86%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,293.00p 0.82%

Fallers

Pearson (PSON) 826.50p -4.78%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,169.00p -4.43%
Aviva (AV.) 424.80p -3.89%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 65.50p -3.79%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 188.00p -2.94%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 555.50p -2.71%
Worldpay Group (WI) (WPG) 276.20p -2.33%
Rexam (REX) 620.50p -2.28%
Glencore (GLEN) 137.30p -2.00%
St James's Place (STJ) 887.00p -1.93%