FTSE 100 Movers: Next's forecasts to be downgraded, broker suggests

4th Jan 2012 12:39

Fashion chain Next was in the bottom spot on the FTSE 100 leader-board after it saw slightly disappointing trading at its Retail stores.Interestingly, the firm says its post-Christmas sale period has gone well, with final clearance rates slightly ahead of 2010. This will give investors some heart about the retailing sector, but the fact that a much respected performer such as Next had an underwhelming December does not bode well for other High Street operators. "Trading over the peak period appears to have been weaker than feared in Retail. Coupled with concerns about employment and nervousness about the Eurozone, this has led management to issue cautious guidance for Jan'13 which may lead to downgrades of c3%. This is likely to weigh on the premium rated shares which have performed well recently," Singer Capital Markets suggested.Sector peer Marks & Spencer has dipped in sympathy with Next, while other retailers are under the cosh, including the big quoted supermarket chains, Tesco, Sainsbury and Morrisons.CRH, the Irish building materials group, was also lagging after the firm announced it spent €400m on acquisitions and investments in the second half of 2011. The total spend for 2011 was €600m.In an update on its acquisition activities in the second half of last year, the company said the biggest investment came in its Europe Materials division which spent €195m including a deal to boost its cement grinding capacity in Belgium. Meanwhile, Severn Trent rose into the top spot, closely followed by United Utilities, as investors made the shift towards typically "safe haven" stocks. FTSE 100 - RisersSevern Trent (SVT) 1,543.00p +1.51%United Utilities Group (UU.) 619.50p +1.31%BP (BP.) 476.90p +1.24%Serco Group (SRP) 489.00p +1.20%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,107.00p +1.06%BG Group (BG.) 1,443.50p +1.05%Centrica (CNA) 300.10p +1.01%Essar Energy (ESSR) 184.80p +0.98%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 632.00p +0.96%G4S (GFS) 272.80p +0.85%FTSE 100 - FallersNext (NXT) 2,630.00p -4.05%CRH (CRH) 1,276.00p -2.22%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 726.50p -2.09%Shire Plc (SHP) 2,184.00p -1.84%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,282.00p -1.76%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,566.00p -1.76%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,000.00p -1.48%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 323.40p -1.40%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,052.00p -1.31%Glencore International (GLEN) 412.70p -1.30%__NR