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Retailer Marks & Spencer falls sharply for the second day in a row,which traders attribute to a downgrade on the stock from brokerage Bernstein,which cuts its rating on M&S to "underperform" from "market perform".
M&S falls 3.4 percent to 464 pence in early session trade, making the stockthe worst-performer on Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index, which is downby 0.2 percent.
The fall comes a day after M&S closed down 2.8 percent after anothercautious note on the stock from Credit Suisse, which kept an "underperform"rating on the company.
Trading volumes in M&S come in above the average for the rest of the market,with volumes standing at 57.5 percent of the average 90-day amount, whilevolumes on the FTSE 100 come in at just 8.7 percent of its average 90-dayamount.
In its research note, Bernstein writes that M&S' strategic overhaul underchief executive Marc Bolland could take some time to bear fruit, and that"investors may be disappointed by results in the next 12-18 months".
"It's the note from Bernstein that's doing the damage," says Securequitysales trader Jawaid Afsar.
However, Afsar says he bought into M&S shares at 463 pence after its fallthis week. He adds he had sold M&S at 500 pence and would look to run his latestpurchase of stock at 463 pence up to the 480 pence level.
"The fact that it lost 40 pence over the last few days seems a bitexcessive," he says.
Hartmann Capital trader Basil Petrides says he would wait for M&S to fallfurther before buying into the stock, and would target a drop down to the430-440 pence level before buying back into M&S.
M&S shares have risen around 21 percent since the start of 2013,outperforming a 9 percent gain on the FTSE 100.
Reuters messaging rm://sudip.kargupta.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
