Marks & Spencer Share News (MKS)

High Street department store Marks & Spencer surged today after HSBC upgraded the stock from 'neutral' to 'overweight', saying it is the most operationally geared among its peers to play on the UK consumer recovery.Hotels group IHG was also a high riser after UBS raised its rating from 'neutral to 'buy' and added the stock to its 'Most Preferred' list. The Swiss bank highlighted alleviated concerns about pipeline after the company added more rooms in the first half. It also pointed to improving growth in China and continued strength in the US.easyJet, which suffered from negative readacross after Ryanair's profit warning yesterday, was rebounding after reporting rising passenger numbers and an increased load factor for August, although it fell out of the top 10 risers by the afternoon. Banks were also performing well this afternoon with Standard Chartered, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Barclays all registering decent gains.Meanwhile, food groups Tate & Lyle and AB Foods were lower after Credit Suisse highlighted concerns about sugar prices falling sooner and more steeply than expected.Pharmaceuticals group GlaxoSmithKline was also in the red after announcing a setback on its potential new skin-cancer treatment.Oil giant Shell was down after a cautious research report from Nomura which maintained its 'neutral' stance on European 'Big Oil' stocks. The broker said: "Recent market optimism on the outlook for European Big Oil is premature, in our opinion. Visibility is improving but a transition to long-life assets and a more unconventional asset base will cost more and take longer than consensus expects." Sector peer BP was also seen taking a hit. FTSE 100 - RisersInternational Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 301.80p +3.71%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 494.50p +3.30%Persimmon (PSN) 1,145.00p +3.06%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 74.68p +2.82%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,474.50p +2.72%ARM Holdings (ARM) 898.00p +2.63%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,607.00p +2.36%Barclays (BARC) 296.20p +2.30%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,234.00p +2.29%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 706.90p +2.23%FTSE 100 - FallersTate & Lyle (TATE) 797.00p -1.91%Antofagasta (ANTO) 875.50p -1.19%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,821.00p -1.09%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,649.50p -0.99%Croda International (CRDA) 2,618.00p -0.83%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,684.00p -0.82%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 226.70p -0.57%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,066.00p -0.46%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 854.50p -0.41%SABMiller (SAB) 3,052.50p -0.38%NR