FTSE 100 movers: M&S surges on growth, miners lower

Marks & Spencer topped the risers as it delivered its first growth from clothing and general merchandise (GM) for 14 quarters, with like-for-like sales unexpectedly rising 0.7% in both clothing and food. The market had been expecting GM sales to fall and food to be flattish.

Imperial Tobacco continued to recover from Tuesday's dramatic loss, which was driven by concerns that the Lorrillard-Reynolds merger will fall apart.

Oil prices stayed high as markets anticipated another stalemate over nuclear deal talks with Iran, driving airline Easyjet up on increased costs.

Kingfisher continued to retreat from strong gains made on the announcement of 60 store closures on Tuesday, part of chief executive Veronique Laury's plans for a “very different” company.

The price of iron ore on Thursday plunged below $50 per metric tonne for the first time in over 10 years, as oversupply and lacklustre Chinese demand continue to hound the market. The effect on the UK mining sector was clear with diversified heavyweights BHP Billiton, Glencore and Anglo American all in the red.

Risers
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 550.50p +3.77%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,267.00p +3.68%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,200.00p +3.24%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,133.00p +2.89%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,739.00p +2.60%
Barclays (BARC) 254.50p +2.09%
WPP (WPP) 1,538.00p +1.65%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,862.00p +1.63%
Unilever (ULVR) 2,856.00p +1.53%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,149.00p +1.50%

Fallers
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,433.50p -2.48%
Anglo American (AAL) 998.60p -1.76%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,170.00p -1.71%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,840.00p -1.71%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 722.50p -1.50%
Kingfisher (KGF) 362.90p -1.39%
Fresnillo (FRES) 693.50p -0.93%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 980.00p -0.91%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,078.00p -0.83%
Glencore (GLEN) 281.75p -0.83%