FTSE 100 Following a flurry of takeover excitement on Wednesday, the blue-chips pared back those gains to fall 23.31 points to 5617.26. During a subdued day's trading, retailers were in favour following pleasing results. Home Retail Group, the company behind Homebase, ticked up 4.2 to 272p as despite a dip in sales, it raised profit guidance for the second time in three months. Continuing the do-it-yourself theme, Kingfisher – the group which owns B&Q – was on the rise too, ticking up 7 to 223.7p partly thanks to a push from Bernstein, which published a weighty tome on the "self-help story". Luca Solca said Kingfisher could benefit from increasing demand for home improvement as the housing market is continuing to show timid signs of recovery. "Furthermore, DIY is back in trend, as consumers across Europe are cutting back and trying to save more. This should also act as a support for home improvement sales in 2010 and beyond," said Mr Solca, giving Kingfisher an "outperform" rating with a target price of 280p.[Read more...]