Vodafone Share News (VOD)

Engineering firm IMI was a high riser on the Footsie on Friday after Citigroup named it a 'Most Preferred' stock. The broker said: "We see further significant margin upside at IMI, driven by both mix and restructuring. A strong balance sheet and yield are both supportive, too."In contrast, technology business Smiths Group was out of favour after Citi named it its 'Least Preferred' following a profit warning earlier this week. The broker said the stock remains at a valuation premium to the UK sector despite mixed trading and the shares are "likely to drift".A decline in risk appetite was benefitting equities in defensive sectors today, such as telecoms and utilities, with BT Group and National Grid on the up. Even Vodafone was in demand despite reporting a 3.5% year-on-year drop in second-quarter revenue, blaming ongoing economic and regulatory pressures in its key market of Europe. Leading the downside was chip designer ARM Holdings ahead of its first-half report next week. Sentiment in the tech industry has been dampened by some worse-than-expected quarterly results from Wall Street heavyweights Google and Microsoft last night.Banking giant HSBC was lower after Investec downgraded the stock from 'buy' to 'hold', pointing out that the shares are now trading close to a 57-month high. FTSE 100 - RisersIMI (IMI) 1,410.00p +2.77%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 289.30p +2.44%Barclays (BARC) 321.35p +1.36%BT Group (BT.A) 335.90p +1.14%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,501.00p +0.99%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 394.70p +0.92%Diageo (DGE) 2,039.00p +0.72%Capita (CPI) 1,052.00p +0.67%Vodafone Group (VOD) 192.60p +0.65%National Grid (NG.) 769.50p +0.65%FTSE 100 - FallersARM Holdings (ARM) 895.50p -2.77%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,003.00p -2.72%Standard Life (SL.) 381.00p -2.41%Croda International (CRDA) 2,552.00p -1.85%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,705.00p -1.27%Persimmon (PSN) 1,252.00p -1.26%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 69.16p -1.24%Unilever (ULVR) 2,732.00p -1.23%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,571.00p -1.20%AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,265.50p -1.20%BC