FTSE 250 movers: Ascential underpinned by Peel Hunt upgrade; Domino's tanks

London's FTSE 250 was up 0.2% to 19,696.73 in afternoon trade.

Ascential was boosted by an upgrade to 'add' from 'hold' at Peel Hunt. The brokerage said the share price fall in recent days has returned the stock to a more attractive entry level.

On the downside, shares in Domino's Pizza were looking less than tasty after Berenberg cut its stance on the stock to 'hold' from 'buy' and chopped the price target to 325p from 400p, saying near-term risks were mounting.

The bank pointed out that for a number of years, Domino’s delivered very strong revenue growth in the UK, before momentum slowed at the start of 2017.

"While we initially thought this would bounce back quickly, we increasingly believe that some issues could create continued pressure on near-term performance. Some of these have the potential to become longer-term problems but we still feel that, as long as they are dealt with, Domino’s could successfully build a larger business in the UK over time. However, given the near-term challenges, we downgrade."

Risers

Man Group (EMG) 156.90p 4.25%
Ascential (ASCL) 327.40p 3.74%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 285.70p 3.70%
Carillion (CLLN) 198.90p 2.95%
Drax Group (DRX) 339.00p 2.79%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 291.70p 2.53%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 176.70p 2.20%
SIG (SHI) 149.50p 2.05%
Polymetal International (POLY) 922.50p 1.93%
Essentra (ESNT) 581.50p 1.75%

Fallers

Inmarsat (ISAT) 778.50p -4.60%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,743.00p -3.49%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 283.20p -2.58%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 32.01p -2.26%
SSP Group (SSPG) 484.20p -2.16%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 388.40p -2.04%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,248.00p -1.92%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 461.10p -1.89%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 256.50p -1.80%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 167.30p -1.59%