Retail sell-off as FTSE drops back a little

Retail and oil stocks were among the big movers this afternoon, after M&S's figures this morning and a US report into the Macondo oil spill. Both Next and Tesco were among the top ten FTSE 100 fallers this afternoon. Next was down 24p at £20.41, perhaps on the back of the Marks & Spencer numbers - M&S itself was down 3.2% at 372p. Tesco fell 3.5p to 426p. A Kantar report out this afternoon suggested that Tesco only held its market share over the Christmas trading period, with J Sainsbury gaining ground (its shares fractionally up, by comparison, to 389.6p). Meanwhile BP was up following a report from a White House oil spill commission on the Macondo drilling disaster. The report blamed government and industry complacency for the disaster. The shares were up 2.5% to 499p. Oil and gas stocks have added 12 points to the FTSE 100 today as a result, with the index standing at 6,017, having dropped back a little, mid-afternoon.