(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) Britain's blue chip index closed out the last session ahead of the Easter holiday around 24 points higher at 6833 with High Street bellwether leading the charge.
Its shares finished 4.43% higher at 554p after posting results which showed better than expected like-for-like sales at the end of the fourth quarter to March 31.
The group finally saw an upturn in like-for-like (LFL) general merchandise sales while the online offering has returned to growth.
General Merchandise (GM) sales in the 13 weeks to March 28 were up 0.7% on a LFL basis defying expectations in some quarters of the market of a small fall.
On the losing front today were the big cap miners - () shed 2.62% to 1431.5p while copper group Antofagasta () lost 2.11% to stand at 716p as commodity prices fell.
In the US the benchmark Dow Jones is up 36 points at 17736 at the time of writing.
"The prospect of a long weekend has seen equity traders and subsequently markets lazily drift towards the close today with limited momentum" said analyst Alastair McCaig at IG Index.
Debt- ridden Greece and its financial affairs is a theme that isn't going away he added.
"The ubiquitous mention of Greece and its travails surrounding austerity has hung around the markets again today. "
Drinks maker () is to take full control of United National Breweries ending its joint venture with Pestello. Shares added 1.18% to stand at 1890.5p.
The 50:50 venture was set up in January 2013 but the Smirnoff and Guinness owner has agreed to buy the rest of the South African beer company for US$36mln.
The deal is pending permission from the South African competition authority among other factors.
United National Breweries is the leading sorghum beer business in South Africa. African sorghum beer is a brownish-pink beverage with a fruity sour taste that is gluten-free. Its alcohol content can vary between 1% and 8%.
Last month hosted a meeting in the City outlining its plans for Africa which accounts for 13% of its total sales.
The acquisition is expected to be completed in the current fiscal year ending June 2015.
Sweeteners firm () climbed 2.96% to 626p as it confirmed its profit after tax should be within the range forecast in September.
The biggest riser in London was broker () which added 54.29% to 1.35p while Arcontech () gained 53.57% to 0.22p after it signed a new client for a minimum of 200 licences of its real-time Excel add-in Excelerator.
The big faller was Indian youth fashion firm Koovs (LON:KOOV) as it said it will seek additional funding to develop the brand. Shares dropped 43.40% to 66.50p.
Elsewhere Tech-based TV company Motive Television () shed 33.7% to 0.0153p after it raised £1mln through the issue of shares at 0.015p.
There was better news for miner () as it strips waste at its RHA tungsten project. Shares rose 3.77% to 1.375p.
and Elliott Advisors continue to clash as each try to convince shareholders to take their side.
Alliance released figures today showing that they were not underperforming as their major shareholder had said. Shares in Alliance rose 0.78% to 515.5p.
Other notable risers were () up 11.11% to 0.25p; () up 9.09% to 4.5p; () up 10.53% to 7.875p and () up 13.16% to 5.375p.
Kibo shares also jumped yesterday as it said it had started work on the second phase of its definitive mining feasibility study for the Rukwa coal and power project in Tanzania.
It follows review definitions and assumptions in the first part of the study by consultant Minxcon which indicated the 300MW coal-fired plant and associated mine had an NPV of US$346mln.
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