FTSE 250 movers: Vedanta surges but Lonmin slumps as platinum prices drop

London’s FTSE 250 was firmly on the front foot on Tuesday, trading up 2.7% at 16,643.57 by 1600 BST, bouncing back from sharp falls in the previous session sparked by worries about a slowdown in China.

Vedanta Resources was the standout gainer, rallying sharply as investors stepped in to grab a bargain following recent steep losses on the back of worries about flagging resources demand from China.

Regus surged after the office space provider said its interim pre-tax profit more than doubled. In the six months to the end of June, the group saw its pre-tax profit jump from £31m to £79.1m thanks to an improvement in its return on investment, which climbed from 20.9% to 23.1%

Clothing retailer N Brown was also strutting its stuff, boosted by an upgrade from N+1 Singer on Monday. The brokerage moved to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ on the stock, saying recent weakness was a timely buying opportunity.

On the downside, South Africa-focused platinum producer Lonmin slumped as platinum prices dropped 1.24% to $979.20 an ounce.

Shares in precious metals producer Polymetal International were under the cosh after the company said adjusted earnings for the first half fell to $297m from $310m, on revenue of $648m, down from $727m. Polymetal said the decrease was largely driven by a decline in commodity prices, largely offset by strong cost performance.

Elsewhere, Argos owner Home Retail was down in the dumps after Barclays downgraded the stock to ‘underweight’ from ‘equalweight’ and cut its price target to 130p from 175p. The bank said its analysis shows that Home should be disproportionately hit by UK wage inflation as a large proportion of its labour force is not on living wage and the company’s low margin profile doesn’t leave much room to manoeuvre.

Risers
Vedanta Resources (VED) 484.60p +9.91%
Regus (RGU) 270.70p +8.67%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,915.00p +8.38%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 883.50p +6.90%
Henderson Group (HGG) 257.80p +6.62%
RIT Capital Partners (RCP) 1,530.00p +6.55%
Laird (LRD) 377.40p +6.46%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 119.20p +6.43%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 247.90p +6.39%
Hunting (HTG) 406.80p +5.88%

Fallers
Lonmin (LMI) 35.47p -5.06%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 291.80p -4.45%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 141.30p -3.94%
Polymetal International (POLY) 458.00p -2.97%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 145.20p -2.94%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 985.00p -2.57%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,038.00p -2.08%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 59.00p -1.67%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 243.10p -1.62%
Marshalls (MSLH) 310.60p -0.89%