LONDON (ShareCast) - Footsie is fighting back from its early morning hammering with Marks & Spencer in the vanguard.

Traders suggest bargain hunters have moved into M&S after the trading update last week that sent its share price tumbling. Vague bid talk also encouraged the buyers,though previous bidder Philip Green denied he had bought any shares.

"I haven't bought any shares, and I don't own any shares in any retailer," Green told reporters. The retailer's AGM is tomorrow with chief executive Stuart Rose facing a widespread revolt over the move to make himself executive chairman.

Next and DSG International are also higher as retailers come back into favour again.

A slide in metal prices sees Anglo American, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton beat a retreat, while Lonmin falls despite Deutsche Bank raising its rating on the stock to “buy” from “hold”. The German bank says shares in the platinum miner are now 27% off its 3,485p target price.

Among financial blue-chips London Stock Exchange is the worst performer, followed by Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and Barclays. Among second-line banking stocks In the FTSE 250, Bradford and Bingley is taking a battering again, with fellow bank Alliance and Leicester also slipping back.

Drugs giants GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca also advance as investors seek cover in defensive stocks.

House builder Persimmon is down but not out after saying it does not expect to announce any significant write down of its land values with its next interim results. It has cut 1,100 jobs to save £20m per year. First half sales were £1bn, a reduction of 34% on the first half of last year.

Investec has lowered its rating on Cadbury to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’ on valuation grounds and lowered its target price on the chocolate manufacturer to 550p from 600p.

JP Morgan has raised its price target on Arriva by 100p to 905p and kept its ‘overweight’ rating on the bus and rail operator, pointing to its strong exposure to bus operations.

Estate agent Savills slumps after revealing trading conditions for its UK and US Commercial Capital Markets businesses and its UK Residential and Mortgage Broking businesses have continued to deteriorate with volumes down significantly on the comparable period in 2007. Predictions for the full year outcome are "very difficult".

IT services group Morse's chief executive has departed after sales and margins disappointed in the year just ended.

Online gamer PartyGaming says gross revenues have fallen since April due to seasonality and competition from Euro 2008. Casino perfromed strongly, offset by a weaker than expected performance in poker and sports betting. Overall revenues were slightly lower than expected.

A profits warning has also come from windows group Heywood Williams, with full year profit expected to come in significantly below market expectations.

Drug developer SkyePharma has lost a quarter of its value as investors grow impatient at the firm's failure to make progress with plans to renegotiate or refinance its convertible bonds.

The few risers include alcohol tester Concateno, which has confirmed a bid approach.

Ithaca Energy’s rejection of Endeavour International’s cash and shares bid worth around £190m has forced the North Sea focused oil group to withdraw its offer for the firm.

CCTV security firm Vigilant Technology is recommending an offer from Internet networking products group BATM worth around £845,000 in cash, or £1.04m in BATM shares.

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