FTSE 250 movers: Inchcape shifts up a gear; Tullett drops as it goes ex-div

London’s FTSE 250 was up 0.7% to 17,864.21 in afternoon trade, with little in the way of corporate news – aside from Inchcape – as the pre-Christmas lull kicked in.

Shares in car dealer Inchcape surged after it said it has acquired a distribution business focused on Subaru cars and Hino commercial vehicles in South America for £234m cash.

Covering Chile, Colombia, Peru and Argentina, the deal with Indumotora strengthens the FTSE 250 company's existing operations in the region and with the vehicle manufacturers, and is expected to be accretive to earnings in the first year of ownership by a mid to high single digit percentage.

On the downside, mining stocks declined, with Kaz Minerals and Vedanta Resources both in the red as metals prices dropped.

Tullett Prebon was weaker as its stock went ex-dividend.

Risers

Inchcape (INCH) 692.00p 7.79%
IP Group (IPO) 163.70p 4.94%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 128.80p 4.12%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 333.40p 4.06%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,098.00p 3.86%
Rightmove (RMV) 3,848.00p 3.47%
Hunting (HTG) 618.00p 3.09%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 451.80p 2.92%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 234.70p 2.80%
Berendsen (BRSN) 865.50p 2.79%

Fallers

Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 420.40p -3.13%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 332.70p -2.80%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 301.80p -2.61%
Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 2,061.00p -2.32%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 358.70p -2.31%
P2P Global Investments (P2P) 781.00p -2.25%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 893.00p -1.87%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,058.00p -1.58%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 462.70p -1.26%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,867.00p -1.11%