FTSE 100 movers: Royal Mail dips as Ofcom suggests price cap, M&S hit by executive resignation

London markets were little changed on Friday, as hawkish comments from Bank of England Governor Mark Carney were balanced by Germany voting in favour of Greece's bailout package.

As of 15:00 BST, the FTSE 100 was trading flat at 6,783.

Royal Mail topped the fallers after Ofcom suggested imposing a cap on prices on the postal service business. The watchdog proposed it could roll back some of the commercial flexibility it granted the Royal Mail in 2012, including the ability to raise its prices, according to a discussion document published on Friday.

Sports Direct rebounded from Thursday's losses, which came as the retailer fell short of revenue expectations and lowered its adjusted core earnings for 2015/2016.

Marks & Spencer dipped as it revealed that John Dixon, the executive director of its general merchandise division, will step down from the board with immediate effect and leave the company on a day to be agreed, to pursue other career opportunities. Steve Rowe will take on responsibility for the general merchandise business, while Andy Adcock, who is currently trading director of the food division, will step up to be the director of Food.

Burberry extended Thursday's gains, which were a result of favourable sentiment from Goldman Sachs, which reiterated its 'buy' recommendation on the fashion group and said it expected the shares to rerate considerably higher.

IAG was on the up as it moved closer to clinching a takeover of Aer Lingus after receiving the US regulator’s go-ahead and the Irish carrier’s shareholders backed special resolutions linked to the deal.

Dixons Carphone reversed from a strong performance on Thursday, when posted a 21% rise in pre-tax profit in its final results and said its integration was progressing well.

Meanwhile Anglo American was trading in the red as it completed the sale of its 50% ownership interest in Lafarge Tarmac Holdings to Lafarge for £992m. Lafarge already owns the other half of the company and Anglo had agreed to sell the stake in 2014 for a minimum consideration of £885m.

Risers
easyJet (EZJ) 1,695.00p +1.62%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 565.00p +1.25%
Pearson (PSON) 1,277.00p +1.11%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 87.41p +1.04%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,698.00p +0.97%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,431.00p +0.91%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 743.00p +0.88%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,596.00p +0.82%
Tesco (TSCO) 219.30p +0.76%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 182.80p +0.72%

Fallers
Royal Mail (RMG) 503.00p -4.55%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 648.50p -1.52%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 634.50p -1.48%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 461.40p -1.45%
Fresnillo (FRES) 659.00p -1.42%
Anglo American (AAL) 878.60p -1.31%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 188.40p -1.31%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,980.00p -1.30%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,590.00p -1.24%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 539.50p -1.19%