FTSE 250 movers: Royal Mail rallies on upgrade; easyJet flies lower

London’s FTSE 250 was up 0.2% at 17,602.03 in afternoon trade on Friday.

Royal Mail rallied after JMorgan Cazenove upgraded its rating to ‘neutral’ from ‘underweight’. It said that while the UK turnaround is far from certain, stronger short-run trading has at least bought some time, and should prevent a build-up of net debt.

"The CWU negotiations appear to be the main ongoing concern," it said. The bank said it has increased its forecasts “materially”, as it lifted its price target to 253p from 145p.

Ferrexpo was also a high riser as the Swiss iron ore company announced a further special dividend following strong cash generation and solid demand. It declared a special interim dividend of 6.6 cents a share. This follows dividends of the same amount in June and August and brings the total distributions for this year to 19.8 cents.

Essentra was boosted by an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ at Jefferies, which said the company’s medium-term recovery and growth potential are underappreciated.

Budget airline easyJet and TUI were both lower after the UK put Portugal back on its quarantine list.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Royal Mail (RMG) 235.00p 6.58%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 185.70p 5.57%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 52.20p 5.35%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 1,407.00p 4.92%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 73.60p 4.84%
Marshalls (MSLH) 692.00p 4.22%
Essentra (ESNT) 294.40p 3.88%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 566.40p 3.81%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,718.00p 3.49%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 10,090.00p 3.49%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Ascential (ASCL) 288.80p -6.96%
Meggitt (MGGT) 260.10p -4.76%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 124.60p -4.74%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 240.50p -3.84%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 221.10p -3.66%
easyJet (EZJ) 574.40p -3.04%
Energean (ENOG) 517.10p -2.96%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 380.80p -2.76%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 58.30p -2.75%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 347.40p -2.66%