Sainsbury 8217 s big climber on FTSE 100

Sainsbury's has helped the FTSE 100 recover from three-month lows in early trading.

While it's latest quarterly trading statement for the 12 weeks to June 6th reported a sixth straight quarter of declining underlying sales – like-for-like retail sales for the first quarter were down 2.1 per cent (excluding fuel) – the figures were better than market expectations. 

As a result, the retailer is the highest climber on the index, up 4.6 per cent to 260 points as of 11:00 BST. Rivals Tesco and MRW Morrison have also benefitted from the positive sentiment in the marketplace – indeed, four of the top five risers are from the food sector. 

Mike Coupe, chief executive of Sainsbury's, pointed to the "strong levels of food deflation and a highly competitive pricing backdrop" as reasons for the slightly disappointing trading figures. 

"These pressures, including the effect of our own targeted price investment, have led to a fall in like-for-like sales for the quarter," he added. However, Mr Coupe said the company is buoyed by the early signs of progress being made as a result of the changes introduced through November's Strategic Review.

With customers benefitting from a push towards improving value and boosting investments in quality, the supermarket giant is confident there is a positive future ahead. 

The FTSE 100 is up around three per cent since the start of 2015, with Standard Chartered also climbing well in this morning's trading (June 10th). Part of the reason for this is speculation that George Osborne might announce a change to the bank levy on the British banking industry in his Mansion House speech tonight.

Such a move would benefit this bank as the majority of its business is conducted outside of Britain.

However, the ongoing debt repayment issues in Greece and the possibility of the country exiting the euro is dampening the spirits of some investors.