Marks & Spencer is down nearly 4% due to shares in the retailer going ex-dividend today.
The fall in the share price is expected because buyers in M&S shares do not immediately qualify for dividend payouts. By late morning M&S was down 15p to 380.5p.
British Airways, Cobham, an aerospace and defence systems supplier, and retailer Next have also gone ex-dividend, moves which dealers expect will knock nearly 2 points off the leading index of shares.
However, the FTSE 100 is up around 20 points at 6078.9, supported by a solid Wall Street market overnight and a fall in oil prices.
WM Morrison is among the top risers, up around 3% to 293.75p after Credit Suisse analysts upgraded their recommendation to outperform from neutral on speculation that the company's profits may beat expectations.
