FTSE 100 movers: Retailers rise as stocks react to Budget

21st Mar 2012 15:13

The retailers were on the rise today with Sainsbury leading the charge after fourth quarter like-for-like (LFL) sales beat expectations.Meanwhile, George Osborne's Budget revealed that all-day trading on Sundays will be allowed from July 22nd to coincide with the Olympics and Paralympics, something that could be boosting the share prices of retailing peers Marks & Spencer and Morrison.Utilities group National Grid was making slight gains after the Budget was announced. The government said it wants to encourage investment in infrastructure, which includes funding from international pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, something which Nomura thinks is "supportive for companies planning to make large infrastructure investments such as National Grid."Cigarettes group Imperial Tobacco was a high riser on the blue chip index despite its UK General Manager, Amal Pramanik, telling the Wall Street Journal that Osborne's increase in tobacco duty (announced in the Budget) is a "big mistake" that will "simply tempt more smokers to buy illicit tobacco products". The rise is expected to add around 37p to the cost of a standard pack of cigarrettes.However, Nomura said this morning that Imperial could be "susceptible to a take-over", which could be one reason for the price rise seen today.Leading the decline was engineering group Weir, perhaps due to a negative read-across from US oilfield services group Baker Hughes. The US firm has this afternoon told investors to expect lower operating profits in the first three months of the year due to, "rapidly changing market conditions in the pressure pumping product line in North America and seasonality in all international markets."Kazakhstan-focused miner Eurasian Natural Resources Corp (ENRC) fell despite giving a bullish outlook statement alongside its strong 2011 results. The board is to have another go at persuading shareholders to give the thumbs-up to the company taking full control of Kazakh coal producer Shubarkol Komir JSC. The company called off the proposed acquisition back in November, responding to pressure from shareholders who said that the uncertain macro-economic environment made it a bad time for the $600m buy-out. BCFTSE 100 - RisersSainsbury (J) (SBRY) 316.10p +3.47%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,610.00p +3.44%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,738.00p +3.02%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,544.00p +2.00%Wolseley (WOS) 2,538.00p +1.81%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 385.80p +1.53%Polymetal International (POLY) 963.00p +1.32%BT Group (BT.A) 218.70p +1.25%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 303.30p +1.20%Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,486.00p +1.06%FTSE 100 - FallersWeir Group (WEIR) 1,858.00p -6.26%Aviva (AV.) 353.80p -5.33%Standard Life (SL.) 236.60p -3.51%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,166.00p -2.67%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 646.00p -2.64%Man Group (EMG) 137.40p -2.62%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 173.50p -2.36%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 28.01p -2.17%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 35.59p -1.64%BAE Systems (BA.) 308.50p -1.63%