Sector movers: Speculation of Comet sale boosts retailers

22nd Jun 2011 16:06

The general retail category was among the best performing sectors on Wednesday afternoon, with FTSE 250-peers Kesa Electricals and Dixons Retail providing a lift.Weak trading at its UK chain Comet held back sales at Kesa Electricals in the year to 30 April, the firm said today, adding that trading has been weaker than expected so far in the current financial year. But the shares were pulled higher after chairman David Newlands told reporters the company is looking at options for Comet, including a sale. Fellow electrical retailer Dixon's Retail, whose results are due tomorrow and which would stand to benefit from Comet's exit from the market, was also posting big gains. Meanwhile, the banking sector was the heaviest falling sector after analysts at HSBC downgraded the ratings of Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland.---BCTop performing sectors so far todayPersonal Goods 22,253.93 +2.48%Tobacco 30,666.18 +1.26%Industrial Metals & Mining 7,126.11 +1.03%Food Producers & Processors 5,296.30 +0.99%General Retailers 1,704.12 +0.93%Bottom performing sectors so far todayBanks 4,298.69 -0.86%General Industrials 3,058.99 -0.85%Software & Computer Services 744.57 -0.83%Support Services 4,502.67 -0.69%Food & Drug Retailers 4,669.66 -0.62%