FTSE 250 movers: Vesuvius and Ferrexpo lead the melt-off
The FTSE 250 index was in the red on Wednesday, in line with its blue chip sister benchmark and half of European markets, with metals and energy firms in particular lagging on the mid-cap index.
Vesuvius, the molten metal flow engineer, and Ferrexpo, the iron ore producer, were bottom of the list as metal prices wallowed around lows.
"Metals prices were caught up in the general market sell-off following the ramping up of tensions between the US and China in June," said commodities economist Simona Gambarini at Capital Economics. "Signs of softer economic growth in China also contributed to the negative investor sentiment towards metals.
"We expect prices to continue trending lower over the coming months even if fears of a trade war fade," she said, seeing rising output and subdued demand ensuring steel and iron ore prices fall over the coming months.
Oil stocks, including Premier Oil, Tullow Oil and Cairn Energy, were lower though Brent crude was pretty much flat at $77.77 a barrel. Premier recently reached two-and-a-half year high, while Tullow hit a 52-week high in late May.
Going the other way, TalkTalk ticked higher as it emerged that Toscafund Asset Management lifted its stake in the company to 16.2% from 15.1%. This comes just two days after TalkTalk founder Charles Dunstone was revealed to have splashed out around £750,000 to boost his stake towards 29%.
Inmarsat was given a boost as analysts at RBC Capital Markets said US satellite company Echostar is likely to make an initial offer of around 650p a share for London-listed rival. RBC said there is a "very high" probability that Echostar - which has until Friday to make a formal bid for Inmarsat or face a six-month ban - will make an offer.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,577.74 -0.20%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,621.32 -0.21%
FTSE 250 - Risers
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 110.40p 5.44%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 535.60p 4.73%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 157.00p 4.53%
IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 379.00p 3.55%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,115.00p 3.43%
AA (AA.) 125.20p 2.75%
Investec (INVP) 552.60p 2.41%
Quilter (QLT) 146.70p 2.19%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 432.85p 2.16%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 411.20p 1.98%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Vesuvius (VSVS) 560.50p -4.84%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 172.83p -4.57%
BCA Marketplace (BCA) 221.50p -3.06%
Senior (SNR) 293.40p -3.04%
Premier Oil (PMO) 118.60p -2.87%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 227.06p -2.72%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 238.20p -2.70%
Ibstock (IBST) 288.40p -2.63%
IMI (IMI) 1,077.00p -2.62%
IP Group (IPO) 126.40p -2.62%