FTSE 250 movers: Ocado and Booker gain on GS note but Provident slumps again

London's FTSE 250 was down 0.4% to 19,860.75 in afternoon trade on Tuesday as investors mulled the latest UK services data and news that Brexit talks have hit deadlock.

Tullow Oil gushed higher as Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to 'buy' saying it is set to deliver a 50% cumulative three-year free cash flow yield.

Ocado and Booker were lifted by a positive note from Goldman Sachs on supermarkets. Although it downgraded Booker to 'neutral' from 'buy', it was more positive on the sector overall.

"Falling input cost inflation and less aggressive pricing strategy by discounters than during the last inflationary spike mean the gap between input costs and consumer food prices (CPI) is now at its narrowest in over a year. Coupled with falling fuel prices and wages tracking below food CPI for the first time in four years, we see a more constructive margin environment in UK grocery in 2018 vs 2017."

On the downside, Provident Financial was under pressure after saying its Moneybarn motor finance arm is being investigated by the financial watchdog, the second of the embattled sub-prime lender's businesses to be probed.

The Financial Conduct Authority has begun to probe the processes the business applies to check customer affordability before it provides vehicle finance and the treatment of customers in financial difficulties.

Miners Ferrexpo and Vedanta Resources retreated as iron ore and copper prices fell.

Risers

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 585.00p 4.28%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,662.00p 3.88%
Vectura Group (VEC) 100.80p 3.49%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,164.00p 3.19%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 269.10p 3.14%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 188.80p 3.00%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 180.30p 2.68%
Greencore Group (GNC) 222.70p 2.49%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 356.60p 2.35%
Booker Group (BOK) 224.10p 2.24%

Fallers

Provident Financial (PFG) 775.00p -11.93%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 239.80p -4.73%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 535.00p -3.69%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 654.50p -3.39%
IMI (IMI) 1,243.00p -2.81%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 177.70p -2.63%
Equiniti Group (EQN) 288.60p -2.57%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 902.50p -2.27%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 284.10p -2.17%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 485.10p -2.00%