3 Shares the FTSE 100 Should Beat Today

LONDON -- The FTSE 100 is remaining pretty bullish in its start to the year, having put on 53 points today to reach 6,107 points by 10:10 a.m. EST, setting yet another new 52-week high. If it carries on like this, we'll all be rich by Easter.

But even with a strong overall market, there are always some individual shares falling. We look at three companies whose prices are falling despite apparently good news.

Sainsbury
Shares in J Sainsbury have dipped 2.2% to 332 pence, even though the company released a glowing Christmas trading statement. For the quarter to Jan. 5, total sales were up 3.9%, with like-for-like sales up 1.5%, after what the company called a "record-breaking Christmas." But the share price had blipped up in anticipation before falling back slightly on the actual news.

All eyes are now on Tesco, which is due to release its Christmas statement tomorrow -- and its share price has also risen in anticipation after a positive third-quarter update at the beginning of December.

Aviva
Aviva shares have dropped 1.5% to 376 pence today after the insurance giant announced the pricing of its Delta Lloyd offering. Aviva, which earlier announced that it was to sell its entire stake in Delta Lloyd, has reached a deal to offload its 34 million shares (around 19% of the total) at a price of 12.65 euros each. This will net Aviva some 353 million pounds.

The price, which represented a 1.6% discount to the closing price, looks pretty good for such a large sale, and it's perhaps surprising that Aviva's share price fell as a result.

Restaurant Group
Although it told us its full-year performance would be "just ahead of the consensus of market forecasts," Restaurant Group saw its shares fall 2.3% to 373 pence. Turnover is 9% up on the previous year, with like-for-like sales improving by 4.5%. The firm opened 28 new restaurants during the year and has plans for a further 28 to 35 in 2013.

Full results are expected by early March.

Finally, how does Britain's ace investor Neil Woodford avoid share price falls? He goes for a strategy of buying solid blue-chip shares paying dependable long-term dividends. And in doing so, he has built a record of beating the FTSE for nine straight years. If you want to see how Woodford manages to beat the market, the free Motley Fool report "8 Shares Held By Britain's Super Investor" takes a look at some of his key holdings. To get your copy, click here while it's still available.

The article 3 Shares the FTSE 100 Should Beat Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares in Tesco. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.