Shares in Kingfisher were up on the FTSE 100 and are a recommended buy ahead of tomorrow's statement on Q2 trading from the company.

The first quarter saw trading perform in line with expectations although the poor weather at the start of the year hampered sales somewhat and the company was up against some tough comparisons.

Nevertheless the group was helped by the profitability of its "self-help" initiatives.

The World Cup is likely to have provided a boost to the B&Q owner in Q2 and there are hopes that the group will have gained some ground in emerging markets like China and Turkey.

However there is also the possibility that the group's Castorama stores in France may have been hit by a drop in consumer confidence resulting from the ongoing eurozone debt crisis.

Keith Bowman, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said, that overall "market consensus currently denotes a buy ahead of the trading update".

By 15:31 shares in Kingfisher were up 2.53 per cent to 222.50 pence per share.

China FTSE