Next Share News (NXT)

(ShareCast News) - London's top-flight index fell on Thursday and by 1439 BST, was down 1.2% to 6,156 as worries about a slowdown in China and concerns that the Federal Reserve might hike rates in September weighed on sentiment.Housebuilder Barratt Developments was a higher riser for the second day in a row after its full-year results impressed on Wednesday. The company posted a 44.8% increase in full-year pre-tax profits to £565.5m on the back of a 19% jump in revenues to £3.7bn. In addition, it said shareholders will get a final dividend of 10.3p a share, up from 7.1p last time.Dixons Carphone rallied after it said significant market share gains in mobile phones lifted first quarter like-for-like revenues. In the UK and Ireland, revenues rose 10% and in the Nordic region by 4%, but were flat in southern Europe, although Dixons saw improved trading in Spain and growth in Greece "despite challenging markets".Clothing retailer Next was also in the black after reporting a 7.1% jump in first-half pre-tax profit, with revenue up as the company sold more items at full price than it had expected. Profit came in at £347.1m from £324.2m in the first half of last year, while total sales were up 2.7% at £1.91bn.Going the other way, supermarket Wm Morrison slumped after it posted a drop in underlying first-half pre-tax profit as revenue declined on the back of price cuts, and warned that the turnaround would take time. Pre-tax profit for the half year to 2 August fell 35% to £117m in the same period last year, missing consensus expectations of around £133m, while total sales were down 5.1% to £8.1bn.BHP Billiton, Glencore, Admiral and Standard Life were among the stocks that went ex-dividend on Thursday.RisersBarratt Developments (BDEV) 656.00p +2.82%Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,018.00p +2.78%Inmarsat (ISAT) 1,048.00p +2.44%Dixons Carphone (DC.) 428.60p +2.07%Persimmon (PSN) 2,124.00p +1.14%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 200.40p +0.75%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 511.00p +0.69%Travis Perkins (TPK) 2,041.00p +0.54%Next (NXT) 7,715.00p +0.52%Royal Mail (RMG) 470.60p +0.49% FallersBHP Billiton (BLT) 1,061.50p -5.81%Glencore (GLEN) 136.05p -5.65%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,531.00p -5.14%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 170.00p -3.35%Standard Chartered (STAN) 720.80p -3.12%Standard Life (SL.) 412.40p -2.92%Tesco (TSCO) 185.80p -2.82%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 504.70p -2.74%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 316.00p -2.50%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,164.00p -2.43%