FTSE 100 movers: Ex-divi and supermarket stocks weigh index down

4th Jun 2014 15:38

National Grid led the fallers after going ex-dividend, with WPP also lower for the same reason. Tesco erased earlier gains and dropped into the red as the decline in like-for-like (LFL) sales at its UK business worsened in the first quarter, with the recent wave of price cuts and competitive measures taking its toll on the top line. UK LFL sales excluding petrol fell by 3.7% in the first three months of Tesco's fiscal year, worse than the 2.9% drop recorded in the fourth quarter but not as bad as some analysts had feared.Shares in grocery rival J Sainsbury put in an even worse performance, while WM Morrison was also out of favour after the statement.William Hill dropped on confirmation it would be relegated to the second tier index. SABMiller was in the red on the back of a downgrade from Morgan Stanley to 'equal weight' from 'underweight', while, Sports Direct rose after Exane BNP Paribas listed the retailer amongst its key ideas group. Shares in Smith & Nephew were also making gains after JPMorgan Cazenove said that M&A speculation could provide support to the stock in the near term after its recent strong performance.FTSE 100 - RisersSports Direct International (SPD) 793.50p +2.92%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,060.00p +2.91%Melrose Industries (MRO) 280.00p +1.71%Friends Life Group Limited (FLG) 314.50p +1.55%Mondi (MNDI) 1,089.00p +1.30%Standard Life (SL.) 392.80p +1.21%CRH (CRH) 1,653.00p +1.10%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 77.85p +1.04%G4S (GFS) 248.00p +0.98%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,611.00p +0.97%FTSE 100 - FallersNational Grid (NG.) 830.00p -5.41%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 327.00p -2.04%Antofagasta (ANTO) 774.50p -1.96%WPP (WPP) 1,263.00p -1.94%Tesco (TSCO) 292.80p -1.58%SABMiller (SAB) 3,244.50p -1.49%Vodafone Group (VOD) 204.55p -1.45%Centrica (CNA) 329.90p -1.43%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 336.50p -1.32%William Hill (WMH) 346.00p -1.23%NR