Marks & Spencer Share News (MKS)

- Markets await Jackson Hole symposium- Miners lower on concerns over Japan- Chemring drops after profit warning. Concerns about global economic growth were weighing on sentiment on Tuesday, meaning that the FTSE 100 was little changed by the close despite some volatile swings between gains and losses throughout the session.Meanwhile, speculation about quantitative easing (QE) measures from the US Federal Reserve was continuing to do the rounds. Market strategist Brenda Kelly from CMC Markets said: "The almost absolute certainty displayed in recent price action that the Fed would ease at Jackson Hole this weekend seems to have petered out, with the major European indices pulling back further from their recent highs and entering a consolidative mode." The Japanese government reduced its assessment of the economy today, warning that a slowdown in economic growth overseas and the ongoing Eurozone debt crisis are key risks to the world's third-largest economy. JPMorgan Securities Japan and BNP Paribas are forecasting a 0.3% and 0.9% decline in third-quarter Japanese gross domestic product (GDP), respectively. Japan's concerns about economic growth overseas will likely have been exacerbated after the release of some gloomy figures from China and Spain. It was a revealed yesterday that combined profits in the industrial sector in China, a major trade partner to Japan, dropped by a year-on-year rate of 5.4% in July, worse than the 1.7% decline seen the month before.Meanwhile, Spanish GDP declined at a 1.3% annual rate in the second quarter, compared with the initial estimate of a 1% contraction, the country's national statistics office said. News that the Generalitat of Catalonia will request €5.023bn from the Spanish government's liquidity fund spooked markets today, dampening earlier optimism after a successful short-term bond auction which saw borrowing costs drop and demand improve.FTSE 100: Miners drop on Japanese concerns; G4S falls after first-half results Miners were firmly out of favour today on concerns over the Japanese economy. BHP Billiton fell after announcing the sale of its Yeelirrie uranium deposit in Western Australia to Cameco for $430m. BHP and sector peers ENRC, Kazakhmys and Vedanta were also lower after Morgan Stanley reduced its target price for all four stocks. Security giant G4S fell after expressing disappointment over the problems related to its Olympics contract, saying that it will incur a £50m loss on the contract in the first half. Meanwhile, the company said that a review of its overhead structure will lead the loss of 1,100 jobs. Nevertheless, the firm revealed that turnover at constant exchange rates rose 7.5% while profits were flat. Retail peers M&S and Kingfisher were both lower this afternoon. M&S was pulling back after a sharp rise on Friday after rumours that private equity titan CVC Capital Partners is considering a takeover offer. Meanwhile, B&Q owner Kingfisher was lower after Bank of America Merrill Lynch lowered its rating to 'underperform'. Drugs giant AstraZeneca was lower after saying that it has appointed Roche's Chief Operating Officer as its new Chief Executive Officer. Meanwhile, the firm also announced that the European Commission has granted marketing authorisation to its ZINFORO treatment. Sector peer GlaxoSmithKline was suffering from a downgrade by UBS. Bunzl, the international distribution and outsourcing group, fell despite saying that pre-tax profits and revenues in the first half rose 9% and 7%, respectively. Telecoms group BT rose after Credit Suisse reiterated its 'outperform' rating and saying that it expects BT, along with BSkyB to take broadband market share.FTSE 250: Chemring drops after profit warning Defence contractor Chemring dropped after it issued a profits warning, saying a computer glitch and production delays are likely to wipe £15m off full-year earnings as it considers a takeover offer from private equity giant Carlyle. Heading the other way was chemicals group Yule Catto after reporting a pre-tax profit of £56m in the first half, up from £52.4m the year before. Sales, however, fell to £603.3m from £664.3m. FTSE 100 - RisersGlencore International (GLEN) 384.00p +4.67%Carnival (CCL) 2,170.00p +3.73%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 144.90p +2.48%BT Group (BT.A) 219.50p +2.00%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 334.60p +1.73%Xstrata (XTA) 939.20p +1.24%ITV (ITV) 84.40p +1.02%Barclays (BARC) 188.95p +0.93%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 334.20p +0.81%CRH (CRH) 1,140.00p +0.80%FTSE 100 - FallersEurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 318.60p -5.99%Evraz (EVR) 233.90p -5.23%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 634.00p -4.01%Kingfisher (KGF) 276.00p -3.40%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 362.80p -2.39%Vedanta Resources (VED) 904.00p -2.22%G4S (GFS) 261.00p -1.95%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,862.00p -1.65%Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,715.00p -1.52%IMI (IMI) 844.50p -1.46%FTSE 250 - RisersYule Catto & Co (YULC) 158.00p +11.42%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 139.20p +6.26%Ted Baker (TED) 1,017.00p +5.17%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 595.00p +5.03%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 79.10p +3.87%Renishaw (RSW) 1,573.00p +2.88%Menzies(John) (MNZS) 620.00p +2.73%Carpetright (CPR) 640.00p +2.32%Dialight (DIA) 1,097.00p +2.14%Britvic (BVIC) 315.00p +1.65%FTSE 250 - FallersChemring Group (CHG) 324.00p -12.55%BTG (BTG) 300.30p -5.77%Cairn Energy (CNE) 283.70p -4.25%Bumi (BUMI) 340.00p -4.23%Afren (AFR) 124.70p -4.00%EnQuest (ENQ) 111.90p -2.86%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 531.00p -2.84%Man Group (EMG) 73.60p -2.84%Cape (CIU) 187.70p -2.80%Hunting (HTG) 771.50p -2.77%BC