FTSE 250 movers: Tullow rises on broker upgrade; Drax drops on warning
London's FTSE 250 was 0.3% higher at 20,396.40 in afternoon trade on Wednesday as activity began to wind down in the run-up to Christmas.
Nevertheless, some analysts were still hard at work, including at Jefferies, where their festive industriousness gave shares in Tullow Oil a boost with an upgrade on the back of improved crude oil price forecasts for 2018. Tullow shares were upped to 'hold' from 'underperform' as Jefferies said Brent crude will average $63 a barrel next year, up from its previous $57 expectations, while the WTI forecast was lifted to $59 from $54.
Vedanta Resources was riding high as copper prices rallied. On copper, analysts at SP Angel noted that long-term supply concerns are driving tightening market conditions, with continued demand from power and construction also boosted by a newfound spark from electro mobility.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals was on the front foot as Numis said the 'buy' rated stock's valuation was well supported. The brokerage pointed to the quality of its branded drugs arm, cash from the injectables unit and self-help potential in the US, and recovery prospects from a trough in the US generics market.
Drax suffered heavy losses after it cut its full-year core earnings guidance by £10m following an unplanned outage at a rail unloading facility.
Risers
Tullow Oil (TLW) 190.80p 4.55%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 768.00p 4.49%
Dignity (DTY) 1,796.00p 3.94%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 183.00p 3.10%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,154.00p 3.04%
Evraz (EVR) 333.60p 2.90%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 355.00p 2.78%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 249.10p 2.55%
Greencore Group (GNC) 228.20p 2.42%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 145.00p 2.40%
Fallers
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 694.00p -2.73%
Drax Group (DRX) 269.50p -2.50%
Alfa Financial Software Holdings (ALFA) 538.00p -1.82%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 206.30p -1.67%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 461.80p -1.45%
BCA Marketplace (BCA) 209.10p -1.27%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 355.90p -1.25%
Essentra (ESNT) 509.50p -1.16%
Diploma (DPLM) 1,212.00p -1.14%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 2,045.00p -1.11%