Marks & Spencer Share News (MKS)

With many traders still on their holidays until after the New Year, both trading and company news have been light. Supermarkets have dragged the FTSE down today, with Sainsbury and Morrison weighing particularly heavily, on the back of competition fears. According to Alex Conroy at Spreadex, the declines are due to "growing fear that German competitor's such as Aldi and Lidl and their discount prices are cutting into the main UK supermarkets market share".Other retailers were also in the red, particularly Sports Direct and Marks and Spencer as investors fear the discounted prices will not have been sufficiently offset by the volume of sales after reports of mixed trading over the festive period.Banking giant Lloyds was also lower after it was reported by The Telegraph that the UK government could sell its 33% stake in the group in 2014. The government's holding, currently worth £18.4bn, is understood to be sold off within the next 12 months. It will be sold through a combination of institutional sales and a nationwide offering to the public.According to David Madden, a Market Analyst at IG, "the decline in Lloyds share price is short-sighted as decreased state ownership will be favourable in the long run". Meanwhile, miners were putting in a strong performance at the other end of the index, with Anglo American and Melrose Industries leading the way, buoyed by the reports from China that a potential credit crisis is not as likely as matter chatter would have. FTSE 100 - RisersAnglo American (AAL) 1,336.00p +2.02%Mondi (MNDI) 1,044.00p +1.75%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,217.00p +1.25%Melrose Industries (MRO) 303.40p +1.23%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,407.50p +0.84%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,159.00p +0.75%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,507.00p +0.74%Fresnillo (FRES) 739.50p +0.61%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 351.20p +0.57%G4S (GFS) 261.20p +0.50%FTSE 100 - FallersSports Direct International (SPD) 717.00p -1.58%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 443.40p -1.51%easyJet (EZJ) 1,514.00p -1.43%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,212.00p -1.25%Ashtead Group (AHT) 763.50p -1.23%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 373.80p -1.22%BT Group (BT.A) 376.10p -1.18%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 264.60p -1.16%Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,467.00p -1.12%BAE Systems (BA.) 435.20p -1.09%NR