Marks & Spencer and Burberry featured on a shortened fallers board today as the wider London market made decent gains following an encouraging debt auction in beleaguered Spain.
The FTSE 100 Index closed 100.7 points higher at 5,766.9 as better-than-expected corporate earnings and strong homebuilding data from the US also lifted sentiment.
Banks were the beneficiaries of the improved sentiment, after slumping on Monday on fears that Spain’s implied cost of borrowing is creeping higher towards unsustainable levels.
Barclays lifted 9.8p to 220.6p, while Royal Bank of Scotland was 0.9p higher at 25.2p and Lloyds Banking Group added 1.3p to 30.95p.
Marks & Spencer shares were in the spotlight after chief executive Marc Bolland reported like-for-like sales fell 0.7% in the 13 weeks to March 31, disappointing the City after growth in the previous quarter. The company’s shares were 2% or 9p lower at 358.7p.
There was an even bigger fall for luxury goods firm Burberry, although the decline in the wake of second-half sales figures followed a record high for the stock on Monday. Shares fell 6% or 94p to £14.92.
Daily Mail & General Trust was the biggest faller in the FTSE 250 Index after it disappointed investors by warning that profits for the first half of its financial year will be lower than in 2011. Shares fell 5% or 21.3p to 423.3p.
The biggest Footsie risers included Antofagasta up 56p at £11.76, Anglo American up 101p at 2,328.5p and Vedanta Resources ahead 52p at £12.14.
Among the biggest Footsie fallers were Imperial Tobacco down 31p at £24.47 and Sage Group off 3.2p at 283.2p.
Stuart Lamont, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, noted Amec climbed 4.4% to £11.18, Stagecoach Group gained 3.7% to 249.75p and First Group rose 3.1% to 204p.
Among the fallers, A.G. Barr dropped 3.2% to 1,162.5p, Parkmead Group fell 0.6% to 20.75p and EnQuest lost 0.2% to finish at 123.6p.