Market report: Footsie fails in its bid for new peak Like Wednesday, it was a heavy session for corporate news, which drove some of the day's biggest movers. Associated British Foods, the sugar-to-clothing conglomerate, slid 71p to £26.25 after its quarterly trading statement showed that while its Primark fashion business enjoyed a strong Christmas, its sugar division missed expectations. Numis analyst Charles Pick cut his recommendation on ABF to "sell," arguing that following the recent strong run by the shares, profit-taking was justified based on the "mixed" update. IT company Computacenter rose 30 to 675p after disclosing that full-year revenues rose 6pc, which was better than analysts had expected. Christmas trading updates from car parts and bike retailer Halfords and Argos-owner Home Retail also impressed investors, with the former climbing 31½ to 492½p and the latter 3.1 better at 204.1p. But electrical goods group Dixons Retail declined 3.29 to 47.11p after chief executive Sebastian James said its fourth quarter would be "more modest than the year to date." A 30.6pc drop in first-half pre-tax profits at Games Workshop saw the small-cap hobby company plummet 176, or 24.3pc, to 547p. Exploration group Premier Oil was another that fell in the wake of its latest update, shedding 20 to 288p on disappointing output guidance that indicated production may not grow at all this year. The company said it had produced an average of 58,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2013 and that it expected 2014 output in the range of 58,000 to 63,000 barrels. Meanwhile, printing technology company Xaar generated little excitement with an in line trading update and slipped 7p to £10.67. Back with the risers, an encouraging fourth-quarter update from Rio Tinto saw the mining giant climb 80½p to £33.34½. Helped by the good news from Rio, the broader mining sector moved higher: Anglo American advanced 65p to £13.97½, BHP Billiton gained 68½p to £18.60, and Glencore Xstrata increased 7¾ to 327.2p. An upbeat research note on the resources companies from heavyweight broker Citigroup also encouraged interest in the miners, with analysts at the bank upgrading their stance on the sector to "bullish" for the first time in three years. With the end of the mining super cycle, investors and companies in the sector had, the analysts argued, already moved through four of the five stages of "grief" - denial, anger, bargaining and depression - and this year are likely to enter into the final "acceptance" stage: "Target prices have been cut by around 44pc over the past three years, commodity price forecasts have also been cut to be more in line with spot commodities and forward curves and generalist interest in the sector have hit rock bottom," the Citi experts said. Analysts were responsible for other notable moves today with inspection and testing company Intertek, for example, slumping 100p to £28.79 on a downgrade to "hold" at Berenberg. In a wide-ranging note on the sector, analysts at the bank said that minerals and energy markets would continue to be weak and highlighted Intertek's exposure to those areas. Similarly, BSkyB lost 24½ to 845p after analysts at Credit Suisse analysts raised concerns that the pay-TV company's rivalry with BT Group, off 5.2 at 380.8p, would result in aggressive bidding for rights to show Premier League football matches. The next auction for three-year TV rights is likely to take place this year, and Sky could spend as much as £1.6bn per annum to broadcast six packages of matches, the broker's experts said. They cut their target price to 600p from 700p and repeated their "underperform" rating on BSkyB shares. Moving in the other direction in the wake of broker comment was United Utilities, up 30 at 689p following an upgrade to "overweight" at Morgan Stanley. The risks from the current regulatory review that will set prices between 2015 and 2020 are now reflected in water company shares and dividends across the sector are unlikely to be cut, the analysts said. Away from analyst research, Wm Morrison rose 5.3 to 253.1p on a report activist investor Elliott Associates wants the troubled supermarket group to hive off three-quarters of its freehold property portfolio into a business that will be partially floated. The sale of 20m SVG Capital shares at 420p a piece by Aegon sent the FTSE 250 private equity group down 41½, or 8.9pc, to 424½p. Aegon retains a 7.9pc stake, or 18.5m shares. Finally, Nanoco, a developer of quantum dots used in lights and display screens, slid 7¼ to 103¾p, with the chunky trading volume drawing dealers" attention. Nanoco has fallen in recent days after speculation a TV set incorporating its technology would be unveiled at this month's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas proved misplaced.