Marks & Spencer helps Britain's FTSE to edge higher

Britain's top share index edged higher in morning trading on Thursday, with British retailer Marks & Spencer leading the market higher after posting its best non-food sales performance for nearly four years.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.2 percent at 6,824.36 points by 0743 GMT, having gained 0.5 percent in the previous session. The index traded about 4 percent below its record high set in late March. Daily trading volume was expected to be thin before the Easter break.

Marks & Spencer rose 5.5 percent after saying that sales of general merchandise, spanning clothing, footwear and homewares at stores, rose 0.7 percent in its fiscal fourth quarter. This was the first time in 15 quarters M&S did not post a fall in non-food like-for-like sales.

"Like-for-like sales have beaten expectations, with a return to growth for clothing sales the clear positive," Keith Bowman, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said.

"Furthermore, sales growth has been achieved without sacrificing profit margin, whilst the group's food sales continue to retain momentum in what is undoubtedly a challenging environment."

However, airline stocks came under pressure following a 5 percent jump in crude oil prices in the previous session as U.S. crude output fell for the first time in two months and the government announced a smaller-than-expected rise in weekly stockpiles.

"Airline stocks are very sensitive to oil prices. We are seeing its impact on the sector today on concerns that stronger oil prices could hit their profit margins as it will cost more to fuel planes," Securequity sales trader, Jawaid Afsar, said.

Although oil prices fell slightly on Thursday, this did not boost the sector. British Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines Group and easyJet fell 1 percent and 1.3 percent respectively.

Among mid-cap companies, gambling technology company Playtech rose 3.9 percent after saying it would buy a majority stake in TradeFX Ltd for 208 million euros ($224 million/£152 million) in cash to enter the trading platform and payment services market.

Premier Oil rose 2.8 percent after the company said it discovered oil and gas at a well in the Falkland Islands.