REX.L Share News (REX)

St. Modwen Properties rose after announcing that its 50/50 joint-venture French partner Vinci has been granted planning permission to redevelop the 57-acre New Covent Garden Market site in south London. The major 10-year project will see the delivery of over 500,000 square feet of new state-of-the-art market facilities together with the development of three residential neighbourhoods.Howden Joinery was lifted by Berenberg, which reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock and raised its target price from 420p to 445p.Barclays Capital upped its rating on Aveva Group to 'overweight' from 'equal weight'.Meanwhile, Electrocomponents declined after it was announced that chief executive Ian Mason will step down at the end of the financial year. Mason, who has been chief of the FTSE 250 group for the past 13 years, said his decision followed the successful implementation of the group's 2012 strategy to increase market share and sales growth rates.Rexam shares also dropped sharply after the company warned that a challenging market and rising metal prices could extend their negative impact well into next year.Spirent Communications suffered from a significant loss of demand for their products and services in the US and China. This was thought to be primarily due to merger activity by some of their customers, as well as a suspension of capital expenditure.