Marc Bolland of Marks & Spencer
Marc Bolland, CEO of Marks & Spencer, which reported a profit rise of 6.1% to £661.2m for the year to 28 March Getty

Retailers Marks & Spencer and Kingfisher keep the FTSE 100 above 7,000 on the back of better than expected retail figures from April.

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics UK showed retail sales jumped 1.2% in April. The boost provided investors enough confidence to keep the FTSE above the benchmark and close at 7,013.47 - up 0.09%.

The increase in consumer spending came after a 0.7% decline in March and exceeded the economists predictions of a 0.4% increase.

Elsewhere, travel companies easyJet, IAG and Carnival bore the brunt of going ex-dividend.

What is ex-dividend?

This happens when a shareholder is credited their payment. If the shareholder decides to sell their share, the buyer would not be entitled top the payment until the next dividend date.

Investors are therefore left with two option: wait and see if the share price falls before buying, or buy the share before it goes ex-dividend - at a premium - and benefit from the payment.

Shares in the issuer usually go down when they go ex-dividend.

FTSE 100 biggest risers

Aberdeen Asset Management +9.60 (+2.19%) 448.50
Marks & Spencer Group +10.00 (+1.71%) 593.50
Hargreaves Lansdown +21.00 (+1.67%) 1,277.00
Smiths Group +18.00 (+1.54%) 1,190.00
Vodafone +3.65 (+1.53%) 242.50

FTSE 100 biggest fallers

Taylor Wimpey -7.80 (-4.07%) 184.00
easyJet -39.00 (-2.37%) 1,610.00
International Consolidated Airlines Group -13.00 (-2.29%) 554.00
Carnival -60.00 (-1.87%) 3,141.00
Randgold Resources -86.00 (-1.79%) 4,713.00

FTSE AIM 100 biggest risers

Ithaca Energy +2.75 (+5.14%) 56.25
Monitise +0.46 (+4.70%) 255.00
RWS Holdings +5.50 (+3.98%) 11.50
SafeCharge International Group +11.00 (+3.89%) 186.00
Amerisur Resources +1.25 (+3.65%) 25.75

FTSE AIM 100 biggest risers

Tungsten Corporation -28.50 (-28.93%) 70.00
Numis Corporation -12.50 (-4.67%) 255.00
Pan African Resources -0.50 (-4.17%) 11.50
Central Asia Metals -7.50 (-3.88%) 186.00
Boohoo.com -0.75 (-2.83%) 25.75

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