Clothing retailer de-robes FTSE

Next lost 25p to 1,405p after Merrill Lynch cut its recommendation for the retailer’s stock to "neutral" from "buy". Cable & Wireless fell 1.25p to 128.75p after Morgan Stanley cut its share forecast with 4.3% for the phone-company. FirstGroup rose 9p to 283.5p. The bus and rail company has been named as the preferred bidder for the seven-year Scottish Passenger Rail franchise by the Strategic Rail Authority. In the meantime, National Express, one of FirstGroup's rivals that currently holds the contract, shed 8p to 709p. In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 49.15 points to 11...