M&S shares see surge on back of sales rise

Shares in retail giant Marks and Spencer made further progress today following a sharp pick up in first quarter sales.

UK investors shook off early caution regarding the quarterly numbers to leave the company’s shares 4p higher at 587p – a rise of almost 1% as the blue-chip stock continued on its two-year upward path.

The wider London market drifted into negative territory as a lacklustre finish on Wall Street and across Asia caused the FTSE 100 Index to stand 16.5 points lower at 5880.4 by mid-morning.

Heavily-weighted oil stocks continue to soften on the back of progress in the Iranian nuclear dispute. Cairn Energy was off 16p to 2128p, Royal Dutch Shell dipped 3p to 1930p and BP fell 1p to 644p.

Gambling group PartyGaming shot to near the top of the risers’ board with a gain of 2% or 2p to 108p amid hopes that online gaming legislation may not have enough time to get Congress approval in the United States.

Elsewhere, shares in BAE Systems received a much-needed shot in the arm after a turbulent few days. Investors returned to the stock with a rise of 6.25p to 342.25p, taking the company to the top of the Footsie risers board.

And Man Group, the world’s biggest hedge fund company, gained 11p to stand at 2565p after announcing it was confident in the firm’s full-year prospects.

Outside the top flight, Wolfson Microelectronics tumbled 35.25p – or 8% – to 410p with one analyst suggesting the firm could be feeling the effects of a weaker than expected sales of LCD televisions.

It was followed by Taylor Nelson Sofres as investors continued to worry about the market research company’s warning last week about difficult trading conditions in the United States. Shares were off 8p at 173.5p.