Home Retail shares jump on Argos optimism The FTSE 250-listed household goods group jumped almost 15pc in early trade on news of better-than-expected third quarter sales at Argos. Home Retail, which also owns Homebase, is seeking to transform the business from one focused on catalogues to an online retailer, and revealed its strategy for Argos in October. The wider market experienced rather less dramatic moves, with the FTSE 100 up just 3 points in early deals, and the mid-cap FTSE 250 8 points higher. The blue-chips fell below the key 6,100 level during trading yesterday before recovering some ground and closing at 6,103.98. "Clients that had been short took some profit yesterday on the dip to around the 6080 but the overall position remains short as they continue to expect a larger move to the downside," said Angus Campbell, head of market analysis at Capital Spreads. On the benchmark index, miner Rio Tinto shares lost 2.7pc on the news chief executive Tom Albanese will step down in the wake of a $14bn charge relating to two of his most high-profile acquisitions. At the other end of the table, Primark-owner Associated British Foods topped the FTSE 100 with a gain of 5pc.The group said a 25pc jump in sales at the fashion business helped lift overall group revenue by 10pc in the 16 weeks to January 5. "The rest of the group has performed in-line with expectations, but the focus for investors in our view should be how to value Primark within the ABF group," said analysts at Panmure Gordon, who reckoned the clothing retailer had a £7.78bn valuation.