FTSE 250 movers: Cobham up ahead of air show; Ocado drops

London’s FTSE 250 was up 1.4% to 19,818.68 in afternoon trade, recovering from heavy losses in the previous session as traders grabbed some bargains.

Aerospace and defence group Cobham was on the front foot ahead of the Paris Air Show next week and as FTSE 100 peer Rolls-Royce said in a trading update that it had started the year well.

On the downside, Booker - which is being taken over by Tesco - was under the cosh after an update from Tesco and as the supermarket chain’s shares fell on news that Amazon is buying Whole Food Market in a deal worth $13.7bn.

Drax was on the back foot again a day after announcing a dividend policy that left investors disappointed. On Thursday, it announced a new dividend policy that will see it pay out £50m this year, up from £10m in 2015.

Ocado was also weaker on the back of the news about Amazon and Whole Foods.

London Capital Group analyst Jasper Lawler said: “There have been rumours for a while that Amazon would buy Britain’s online grocer Ocado as a test run before taking on the US. The drop in Ocado shares on the threat of greater competition from Amazon could eventually present an opportunity.

“Given the Amazon’s spending power and already large footprint in the UK, the Whole Foods purchase probably increases the odds of an Ocado acquisition.”

Risers

Cobham (COB) 137.00p 5.87%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 121.30p 5.11%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 162.40p 4.84%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,353.00p 4.81%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 219.00p 4.63%
Workspace Group (WKP) 956.00p 4.60%
Rank Group (RNK) 234.20p 4.55%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 473.40p 4.41%
Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 345.50p 4.32%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,444.00p 4.22%

Fallers

Booker Group (BOK) 185.50p -3.59%
Drax Group (DRX) 331.60p -2.90%
IP Group (IPO) 136.10p -2.72%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 411.60p -2.23%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 269.40p -1.79%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 542.00p -1.63%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 476.80p -1.39%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 586.50p -1.35%
NewRiver REIT (NRR) 348.00p -0.85%
Hunting (HTG) 483.50p -0.80%