Banking group Lloyds was on the rise ahead of results on May 1st, helped by a buy recommendation from Investec. "Return on equity recovery will be painfully slow, but (whisper it quietly) the worst looks to be behind us now," the broker said. Financials were performing strongly by lunchtime with hedge fund manager Man Group leading the way after its recent underperformance. Shares were up nearly 4% today but still down 12% on the week.Meanwhile, chip-designer ARM Holdings was a big faller ahead of the release of its first-quarter results next week. Jefferies this morning raised its target price on the stock but maintained its underperform rating, saying "we think a lack of visibility on the long-term potential has stymied sentiment." Another big faller was High Street giant Marks and Spencer after Investec downgraded its rating for for the stock following this week's fourth-quarter update disappointed - in its own words, the stock is 'off the Mark and lacking Spark'.FTSE 100 - RisersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 30.22p +3.18%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,710.00p +3.07%Man Group (EMG) 96.25p +3.05%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 893.50p +2.88%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,145.00p +2.69%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,231.00p +2.58%Anglo American (AAL) 2,362.50p +2.41%Evraz (EVR) 380.70p +2.37%United Utilities Group (UU.) 619.00p +2.31%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 518.50p +1.97%FTSE 100 - FallersWeir Group (WEIR) 1,660.00p -5.25%ITV (ITV) 85.55p -2.89%ARM Holdings (ARM) 590.00p -2.88%WPP (WPP) 843.00p -1.46%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,609.00p -1.39%Kingfisher (KGF) 302.00p -1.21%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 385.40p -1.05%Wolseley (WOS) 2,388.00p -0.95%Compass Group (CPG) 652.00p -0.84%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,216.00p -0.82%NR