(ShareCast News) - London markets inched higher on Monday as weakness in the commodities market was outshone by strength in the pharmaceutical, technological and financial sectors.As of 14:15 BST, the FTSE 100 was trading 0.23% higher at 6,791.Sports Direct International topped the risers as Exane BNP Paribas lifted its target price to 860p from 800p. Exane said it continued to value Sports Direct at a premium of around 5% to the sector given the quality of the UK business, strong earnings growth profile and optionality of European expansion.Standard Chartered was lifted as it announced a radical management shake-up. Under the new regime, chief executive Bill Winters will take more responsibility, with all heads of business units will report to him directly. The restructure forms part of a previously announced goal of $1.8b in savings by the end of 2017.Elsewhere in the banking sector, HSBC was in favour after Citigroup upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'neutral' and lifted its price target to 635p from 625p, noting that the stock is trading close to the low end of its valuation range over the past five and 10 years.Shares in Pearson, which were earlier down more than 2%, spiked on the re-emergence of reports that the education group is exploring the sale of the Financial Times. Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg said possible bidders for the salmon-colored newspaper were being sounded out.Meanwhile miners such as Fresnillo, Randgold Resources and Antofagasta were trading in the red as metal prices tumbled across the board.Prudential dipped as Jefferies downgraded the stock to 'hold' from 'buy' and cut the price target to 1,753p from 1,802p, to accommodate for the company's less certain growth outlook. Jefferies said the company's growth profile will likely be under scrutiny over the coming quarters with recent management dislocation coinciding with downside risks to growth in the core territories RisersSports Direct International (SPD) 766.00p +2.54%Sage Group (SGE) 541.50p +2.07%ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,034.00p +1.57%TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,119.00p +1.54%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,029.50p +1.23%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,993.00p +1.15%easyJet (EZJ) 1,717.00p +1.12%Kingfisher (KGF) 365.80p +1.08%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 573.00p +1.06%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 586.30p +1.05%FallersFresnillo (FRES) 631.50p -4.03%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 3,850.00p -3.85%Pearson (PSON) 1,240.00p -2.75%Meggitt (MGGT) 488.50p -1.65%Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,395.00p -1.64%Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,083.00p -1.63%Antofagasta (ANTO) 642.00p -1.38%GKN (GKN) 306.90p -1.10%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,147.00p -1.04%Inmarsat (ISAT) 938.50p -1.00%