HSBC Holdings Share News (HSBA)

Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza owner InterContinental Hotels Group was a heavy faller on Wednesday, dropping over six per cent after going ex-dividend, meaning that new investors won't be able to get their hands on the company's latest dividend payment.A number of other heavyweight stocks also went ex-dividend today, including British American Tobacco, Capita, Hammerson, Prudential and Carnival.Oil and gas engineering firm Wood Group was also sharply lower, extending losses after it scaled back full-year guidance for one of its divisions yesterday. Deutsche Bank trimmed its target price for the stock today after cutting its forecasts for 2014, but reiterated its positive view on Wood Group saying it "remains one the most attractive and overlooked ways to play structural growth in offshore/deepwater spend".Continued pressure on emerging-market assets - given concerns about the impact from an impending tapering of US stimulus - were hitting financial peers Aberdeen, HSBC and Prudential today.A reduction in risk appetite was also affecting mining stocks today with Fresnillo, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto all in the red. Glencore Xstrata however was bucking the trend, rebounding after some heavy losses the day before after the company disappointed with its first-half results.Standard Life was also higher after receiving an upgrade by both Credit Suisse and Bank of America. The latter raised its rating from 'underperform' to 'neutral' after a recent drop in the share price, saying that the company "remains well placed for regulatory changes and its asset management business should continue to attract inflows".Terrestrial broadcaster ITV was being helped higher by comments from Galvan Research which said: "After a multi-year bear market for the shares, there are still ample fundamental and charting positives to keep the ITV turnaround story powering ahead."FTSE 100 - RisersGlencore Xstrata (GLEN) 303.95p +2.29%ITV (ITV) 164.60p +1.67%WPP (WPP) 1,185.00p +1.63%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,569.00p +1.55%Standard Life (SL.) 348.10p +1.52%Croda International (CRDA) 2,595.00p +0.85%Meggitt (MGGT) 542.00p +0.84%Wolseley (WOS) 3,148.00p +0.77%Experian (EXPN) 1,187.00p +0.76%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 285.80p +0.74%FTSE 100 - FallersInterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,857.00p -6.12%Wood Group (John) (WG.) 793.50p -4.51%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 364.10p -3.88%Hammerson (HMSO) 488.20p -2.75%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,229.00p -2.69%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 687.60p -2.36%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,340.50p -1.94%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,888.00p -1.85%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,995.50p -1.77%Prudential (PRU) 1,128.00p -1.74%BC