UK blue chips have raced away this morning led by the banks as the government caved in on the issue of bonuses.As a trade-off for no additional taxes on the expected £7bn of UK bonuses this year, the banks are in talks to raise their business lending by 10%, or £20bn, to £200bn. Shares in Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS are all sharply higher.Marks and Spencer saw group sales rise 4% in the final quarter of 2010. Like for like (LFL) UK sales were up 2.8%, with general merchandise sales up 3.8% and food sales 1.8% higher. Marks estimates the snow trimmed about 1% off food sales and 3% off general merchandise. Earnings guidance for the current financial year remains unchanged. Market consensus is for £723m on sales of £9.77bn.US shopping mall giant Simon Property has dropped its indicative bid for Capital Shopping Centres but will still vote against the 'deeply unattractive' acquisition of Manchester's Trafford Centre. Simon had proposed a bid of 425p per share for the shopping centre group, but this was conditional on being given access to the books. After the CSC board repeatedly refused this, Simon says it had no option but to withdraw. The Takeover Panel had given it a deadline of until 12 January to make an offer.Arm Holdings is going well again after a bout of profit taking after its ground-breaking deal with Microsoft last week. Wolseley is also going well.Property giant British Land is to purchase Marble Arch House in London's West End. The company is paying the present owners, The Portman Estate, £18m for the development site, which currently consists of two mixed use five story buildings on the corner of Seymour Street and the Edgware Road.Bedding and home furnishings retailer Dunelm had a tough time during the run up to Christmas, damaging sales and profits, while rising costs and consumer demand remain a concern. LFL sales for the 26 weeks to 1 January slipped 1.2% as a 4.2% tumble in the second quarter cancelled growth of 2.1% in the first three months of the financial year. It's also cautious about the UK consumer environment and in its expectations for second half trading.Having raised market expectations back in November, Howden Joinery did so again on Tuesday after it put in a strong finish to 2010. In the period from 4 October to 25 December, total sales of Howden Joinery UK depots were over 6% higher than in the corresponding period in 2009, if the benefit of an additional day's trading in the 2010 pre-Christmas week is excluded.Support services and construction group Interserve said it is trading in line with expectations after a strong second half and announced it had won a series of contracts worth around £500m. Bluetooth chip specialist CSR has agreed to pay $67.5m to settle with US firm Broadcom in the patent infringement case brought against its subsidiary SiRF. Terms of the settlement will see CSR pay an initial sum of $5m plus $12.5m for the next five years. CSR expects ongoing legal fees will be reduced by at least $10m per annum as a result of the settlement. IT services provider Computacenter said pre-tax profit for 2010 is expected to be towards the top end of the range of market expectations as demand continues to pick up.Hard pressed Gulf of Mexico-focused oil company Leed Petroleum saw net attributable production tumble in the final quarter of 2010.
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