Barclays Share News (BARC)

London's benchmark index closed at 6,631 on Friday, down by 4 basis points.The S&P 500 and Dow Jones closed at fresh all-time highs last night on the back of positive economic data and a raft of corporate earnings which came in better than expected. After the closing bell however, tech giants Google and Microsoft both missed Wall Street profit forecasts, dampening sentiment across the technology industry. At the time of writing shares of Microsoft were getting clobbered, falling by nearly 10% from multi-year peaks.Those earnings - and the cold reception from investors - stand in stark contrast with those out from several financial heavyweights Stateside throughout the last few sessions. One can only wonder if we are not also witnessing a certain degree or rotation from one sector to the other, comment analysts at Digital Look. Meanwhile, UK public-sector borrowing for June was slightly higher than expected and showed little evidence of benefits from increased activity in the wider economy. Public-sector net borrowing, excluding the cost of financial interventions, was £8.5bn in June, down from £11.9bn a year earlier but above the £8.0bn forecast.Martin Beck, UK economist at Capital Economics, said: "While other indicators are pointing to signs of life in the UK economy, the public finances have yet to see much of a boost from the nascent upturn. In all then, beneath all the temporary distortions, the public finances remain a long way from health."For their part, Barclays Research believes the government is on track to meet its target for net debt as a proportion of gross domestic product but adds that "although this will be highly dependent on the performance of the economy this year."Acting as a backdrop, overnight China announced a liberalisation of interest rates which Capital Economics believes is "perhaps China's most important step towards financial market liberalisation in many years." Be that as it may, it does not constitute a loosening of policy, the think-tank added. Also to be had in account, at this weekend´s G20 meeting in Moscow world leaders are expected to discuss many issues, including high unemployment, market volatility and the global economic recovery. The global consequences of uncertainty regarding the tapering of US quantitative easing will also be on the agenda. As an old adage in the US says: "It´s our monetary policy, but it´s your problem."FTSE 100: IMI up on Citi comments; Vodafone gains despite drop in revenue Engineering firm IMI was the standout performer on the Footsie for much of the session after Citigroup named it a 'Most Preferred' stock. The broker said: "We see further significant margin upside at IMI, driven by both mix and restructuring. A strong balance sheet and yield are both supportive, too."In contrast, technology business Smiths Group was out of favour after Citi named it as its 'Least Preferred' following a profit warning earlier this week. The broker said the stock remains at a valuation premium to the UK sector despite mixed trading and the shares are "likely to drift".A decline in risk appetite benefited equities in defensive sectors this morning, such as telecoms and utilities, with BT Group, United Utilities, SSE and National Grid on the up. Even Vodafone was in demand despite reporting a 3.5% year-on-year drop in second-quarter revenue, blaming ongoing economic and regulatory pressures in its key market of Europe. In contrast, relatively 'riskier' stocks in the mining sector were out of favour: Fresnillo, Glencore Xstrata, Anglo American and Rio Tinto were among the worst performers.FTSE 250: DCC jumps after strong start to the yearMarketing, distribution and business support group DCC´s stock registered sharp gains after lifting its full-year guidance, as the cold weather in spring drove up demand for its heating oils and liquefied petroleum gas. Both Investec and Jefferies raised their target prices for the stock this morning.Defence technology company Chemring was taken down a peg by UBS after the broker cut its rating from 'buy' to 'neutral' on the back of reductions to short-term profit forecasts.FTSE 100 - RisersInternational Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 288.90p +2.30%IMI (IMI) 1,400.00p +2.04%BT Group (BT.A) 338.10p +1.81%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,525.00p +1.53%Vodafone Group (VOD) 193.85p +1.31%National Grid (NG.) 774.50p +1.31%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 395.80p +1.20%Diageo (DGE) 2,046.00p +1.06%United Utilities Group (UU.) 727.50p +1.04%Barclays (BARC) 320.00p +0.93%FTSE 100 - FallersARM Holdings (ARM) 897.50p -2.55%Croda International (CRDA) 2,552.00p -1.85%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,561.00p -1.82%TUI Travel (TT.) 367.10p -1.77%Standard Life (SL.) 385.00p -1.38%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,167.00p -1.19%William Hill (WMH) 465.80p -1.17%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 69.25p -1.11%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,917.50p -1.05%Persimmon (PSN) 1,255.00p -1.03%FTSE 250 - RisersDCC (DCC) 2,697.00p +3.69%Playtech (PTEC) 680.00p +3.03%Fenner (FENR) 344.80p +2.89%NMC Health (NMC) 298.00p +2.76%Polymetal International (POLY) 597.00p +2.40%Menzies(John) (MNZS) 746.50p +2.40%Ted Baker (TED) 1,890.00p +2.38%Michael Page International (MPI) 432.00p +2.37%Spectris (SXS) 2,083.00p +2.36%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 126.00p +2.36%FTSE 250 - FallersChemring Group (CHG) 298.20p -7.13%Catlin Group Ltd. (CGL) 518.00p -2.54%Computacenter (CCC) 499.00p -2.54%Rank Group (RNK) 158.40p -2.46%Lonmin (LMI) 296.30p -2.44%Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,642.00p -2.20%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 3,915.00p -2.12%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 149.20p -2.10%Anite (AIE) 132.40p -1.93%Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,565.00p -1.88%FTSE TechMARK - RisersTriad Group (TRD) 9.00p +16.13%Vislink (VLK) 34.75p +9.88%Optos (OPTS) 157.25p +6.79%Ricardo (RCDO) 424.00p +4.69%DRS Data & Research Services (DRS) 20.00p +2.56%Filtronic (FTC) 67.00p +2.29%E2V Technologies (E2V) 129.00p +1.98%Antisoma (ASM) 1.55p +1.64%Torotrak (TRK) 27.12p +1.40%Kofax (KFX) 340.00p +1.34%FTSE TechMARK - FallersPhoenix IT Group (PNX) 154.00p -6.95%Promethean World (PRW) 13.50p -3.57%Skyepharma (SKP) 62.75p -2.71%Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF) 149.75p -2.60%Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 1.40p -2.10%Ark Therapeutics Group (AKT) 0.43p -1.14%RM (RM.) 79.12p -1.09%BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 15.88p -0.78%Consort Medical (CSRT) 779.00p -0.76%NCC Group (NCC) 135.00p -0.37%AB