Marks & Spencer Share News (MKS)

Blue-chip retailers Marks & Spencer, Next and Kingfisher were among the worst performers of the day after data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed that UK retail sales growth slowed for the second straight month in September. According to the BRC, like-for-like sales growth fell to an annual rise of 0.7% last month, from 1.8% the month before - analysts were looking for a pick-up to 2%.A number of cyclicals were in the red as risk appetite was scaled back on the back of concerns over the US and China. BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Glencore Xstrata were all out of favour, along with financials Standard Life, Lloyds and Prudential.HSBC was also lower after selling a portfolio of non-performing personal unsecured and secured loans to the Paragon Group of Companies for £13.5m.Meanwhile, Antofagasta was on the rise after Bank of America Corp. reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock. ITV also provided a ray of light, after Exane BNP reportedly raised its target price for the broadcaster. FTSE 100 - RisersAntofagasta (ANTO) 836.00p +1.89%ARM Holdings (ARM) 984.00p +1.44%ITV (ITV) 184.00p +1.21%Sports Direct International (SPD) 681.00p +0.96%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,071.00p +0.94%Reed Elsevier (REL) 841.50p +0.78%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,406.00p +0.59%Persimmon (PSN) 1,073.00p +0.56%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,212.50p +0.39%Experian (EXPN) 1,160.00p +0.35%FTSE 100 - FallersMarks & Spencer Group (MKS) 466.30p -2.91%Standard Life (SL.) 342.40p -2.59%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,605.00p -2.13%Mondi (MNDI) 1,044.00p -1.97%William Hill (WMH) 397.60p -1.83%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 72.99p -1.80%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,769.50p -1.80%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 368.50p -1.79%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 4,293.00p -1.76%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 331.00p -1.75%NR