FTSE 250 movers: AO World plunges, oil and energy stocks higher

Mid caps outperformed the FTSE 100 on Tuesday, as miners, engineers and telecommunications offset weakness in real estate and utilities stocks.

As of 15:30 BST, the FTSE 250 was trading 0.06% higher at 18,231.5.

AO World plunged as the online white goods retailer's final results revealed a £2.9m loss before tax amid challenging UK market conditions. However, the company continued to take market share and lifted revenues 24% with UK website sales surging 32.9% and total UK revenue by 22.3%.

Foxtons topped the fallers after Peel Hunt began coverage on the UK estate agency sub-sector with a 'sell' recommendation on the London-focused operator.

Savills reversed Monday's gains, which were driven by the completed acquisition of rural specialists Smiths Gore in a deal worth up to £40m in cash.

Egypt-focused gold miner Centamin was hit by negative broker comment, as RBC Capital lowered its rating from 'outperform' to 'sector perform'.

Cairn Energy surged following an upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold' from Jefferies. The broker also raised its price target from 175p to 222p. Other oil and energy stocks were making gains, including Premier Oil, Soco International and Hunting, with the sector also helped by a bullish note from Barclays.

Kaz Minerals rebounded from Monday's slump, which came as the miner warned that its new project in Kazakhstan would produce limited levels of copper.

Risers
Premier Oil (PMO) 166.20p +6.40%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 180.80p +5.12%
Soco International (SIA) 188.00p +4.56%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,947.00p +4.56%
NMC Health (NMC) 790.00p +3.34%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 585.50p +2.54%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 250.50p +2.37%
Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 108.50p +2.26%
Hunting (HTG) 617.50p +2.24%
Laird (LRD) 397.20p +2.21%

Fallers
Foxtons Group (FOXT) 269.30p -5.34%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 540.00p -3.05%
Card Factory (CARD) 365.40p -2.56%
AO World (AO.) 172.00p -2.38%
Savills (SVS) 942.00p -2.33%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 67.90p -2.30%
Workspace Group (WKP) 911.50p -2.20%
Redefine International (RDI) 53.60p -2.01%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 1,010.00p -1.85%
BTG (BTG) 696.00p -1.83%