Markets today: 5 things you may have missed

• Wm Morrison has suffered the heaviest fall in the FTSE 100, knocked 2.8pc by a downgrade to “sell” at Deutsche Bank. Analysts at the broker have told clients a recent rally in the share price is unjustified, and that a takeover bid at 275p – as has been rumoured – is unlikely.

• A raft of shares trading ex-dividend, including HSBC and Compass Group, are also weighing on the wider FTSE 100, which has slipped 12 points to 6,790 in early deals. If the benchmark index closes in negative territory, it will be its third straight session of declines.

• Petrofac, however, has bucked the broader trend and has climbed 1.9pc, courtesy of an upgrade to “equal weight” at Barclays. Following the oil services group’s recent profit warning, analysts at the bank reckon that “value has returned” to Petrofac.

• Luxury goods retailer Burberry is another riser, boosted 1.2pc by well-received full-year results, in which the group met market expectations with adjusted pre-tax profits of £461m.

• In the mid-cap FTSE 250, Telecom Plus has also been buoyed by encouraging earnings and has surged 11.6pc. Lifted by an energy supply deal with Npower, adjusted pre-tax profits surged 25.3pc to £44.6m in the year ending March 31.

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