FTSE 250 movers: Acacia shines but oil stocks slump

London’s FTSE 250 was down 0.2% to 19,981.04 in afternoon trade, after setting another intraday record as it topped 20,080 earlier.

Acacia Mining shares rose as the company said it hopes to speak to the Tanzanian government in the coming days to resolve a dispute in which the gold miner was accused of under-reporting the amount of gold it was exporting.

Metro Bank was up after it completed the purchase of a portfolio of UK mortgages from Cerberus European Residential Holdings for £ 596.7m. All lending in the portfolio - which consists of around 92% buy-to-let mortgages, with the remainder being owner occupied - is secured on property, well diversified across the UK, and has a similar credit risk profile to Metro Bank's current mortgage book.

Going the other way, B&M European Value Retail fell after the family investment vehicle of chief executive Simon Arora and his brothers offloaded £454.3m worth of shares in the discounter.

Tullow Oil and Nostrum retreated as oil prices tanked, hit by US President Trump’s decision to remove America from the Paris climate agreement, which has sparked concerns that the country will ramp up its drilling, cancelling out any output cap implemented by OPEC.

Grafton was under the cosh as Numis downgraded the stock to ‘add’ from ‘buy’ following the recent share price performance.

Still, the brokerage said Grafton remains its favoured pick in the general merchants sector due to having the best scope for organic and acquisitive growth, and merits a material premium to Travis Perkins in particular.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Acacia Mining (ACA) 293.90p 3.67%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 1,962.00p 3.21%
Greencore Group (GNC) 249.10p 3.06%
IWG (IWG) 353.40p 2.76%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 2,669.00p 2.73%
Redefine International (RDI) 38.79p 1.84%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 241.80p 1.81%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 3,781.00p 1.67%
Keller Group (KLR) 883.50p 1.55%
Monks Inv Trust (MNKS) 712.00p 1.42%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Tullow Oil (TLW) 179.90p -3.28%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 503.00p -2.99%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 359.90p -2.83%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 171.60p -2.72%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 607.50p -2.17%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 778.00p -2.08%
Evraz (EVR) 190.10p -2.01%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 323.40p -1.82%
Computacenter (CCC) 845.00p -1.63%
Derwent London (DLN) 2,676.00p -1.62%