LONDON (ShareCast) - Phamaceuticals, financials and miners keep the Footsie in the blue, despite a collapse in the share price of retail giant Marks & Spencer which has caused collateral damage to the share price of other retailers.

Marks & Spencer is off the bottom but still far and away the biggest faller among blue-chips after it said first quarter UK like for like sales fell 5.3%, as it experiences “deteriorating consumer confidence levels and more challenging market conditions.”

Other retailers in the red include Next, Kingfisher, Tesco, Sainsbury and Morrison. These have received an additional blow in the form of the Bank of England’s first quarter housing equity withdrawal figures, which showed the amount of money homeowners are borrowing against the value of their homes slumped to its lowest level since 2001. Travel company Thomas Cook reacts badly to the Bank’s figures as well, as the prospect of homeowners re-mortgaging to pay for a dream holiday diminishes.

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca surgeds ahead after wining its legal battle against two companies that want to market generic versions of Astra’s Seroquel drug. GlaxoSmithKline and Shire are also up in sympathy.

Insurance stocks are wanted with Old Mutual, Standard Life and Aviva leading the way up.

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey lost around half of its value on news that it has failed to secure a deal with existing and potential investors to raise further equity capital. Finance director Peter Johnson has departed and it also said there will be no interim dividend.

Sector peers Barratt Developments, Persimmon, Bellway and Bovis Homes are posting heavy losses, as is plumbers’ merchant Wolseley. Contractor Morgan Sindall, which yesterday issued a profit warning on the back of “increasingly challenging market conditions over the last quarter in the commercial property and open market affordable housing sectors”, falls heavily again today.

Irish building firm CRH expects to report a "high single digit percentage decline" in 2008's pre-tax profit as demand weakens in Europe and the US. The supplier of cement and bricks predicts a pre-tax profit of €600m for the six months ended 30 June 2008 compared with €670m the same time a year before.

British Airways has agreed to buy privately owned French airline L'Avion for £54m. The price covers the purchase of the airline and £26m of cash in its business.

Confectioner Cadbury receives a lift from Morgan Stanley, which has resumed coverage with an “overweight” recommendation and a price target of 750p.

Olfield services specialist John Wood has issued another upbeat statement forecasting a year of "strong growth".

Contractor Balfour Beatty's trading has continued strong with orders since the year-end up by £400m.

Informa gained after the exhibitions group confirmed that it has received a 506p proposal from a private equity consortium led by Providence Equity. Informa said the consortium, which also includes The Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman, had made a preliminary 506p per share bid on 26 June.

Trinity Mirror is on the slide again after Goldman Sachs cut its price target to 85p from 200p and advised investors to sell the stock.

Oil explorer Oilex pleased the market with the results of its first test drilling of the basal sand secondary objective at the Cambay-19Z appraisal well.

Market research firm Taylor Nelson, which has pledged to merge with German outfit GfK, advances on hopes that WPP will launch a bid

Nappy and protective clothing producer Fiberweb is firmer after it said the introduction of new lines and benefits from its cost reduction programme should have a positive impact on profitability in the second half.

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