FTSE 250 movers: Inmarsat and Morgan AM a drag on mid-caps

London's mid-cap index did not benefit quite as much as its larger sibling from the strong US jobs report on Friday afternoon.

Inmarsat led the fallers after Barclays downgraded its shares to an 'underweight' rating from 'equalweight' due to concerns over demand in the medium-term, even though it still is confident the satellite company is "well set" for recovery.

First-quarter results the previous day were "solid" but analysts said their mid-term concerns remain: "supply is set to increase materially whilst demand growth should be more volatile; technological obsolescence is a question mark with VHTS [very-high-throughput satellite] around the corner".

Morgan Advanced Materials fell after reporting sales on a constant currency basis were down 0.8% compared to the first quarter of last year. Sales in the Thermal Products division were 2.8% lower, with declines in Europe and North America, while the Carbon and Technical Ceramics division was up 1.5%.

Insurer Lancashire was down, with a few analysts taking its valuation to task after results on Thursday. Morgan Stanley's said the outlook and strategy were solid but the valuation looked "expensive", while those at Canaccord cut their forecasts for the lower premium in Q1, now for a 6% gross written premium decline from what had been an optimistic assumption of flat, and said they "struggle to see the logic of paying a big premium for excess capital and declining returns".

G4S was lower, even as Credit Suisse increased its price target to 350p from 310p and retained its outperform rating.

Risers were led by gold miners Acacia Mining and Hochschild Mining as the yellow metal bounced from $1225 - even though it "faces multiple hurdles following this this week's sell-off and breakdowns" said analyst Mike van Dulken at Accendo Markets.

Vedanta Resources and Polymetal International were higher as copper bounced moderately after big fall earlier in the week.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Acacia Mining (ACA) 400.20p 5.85%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 626.00p 5.48%
JRP Group (JRP) 129.40p 4.35%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 245.10p 4.30%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 310.30p 3.50%
Polymetal International (POLY) 990.00p 2.75%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 2,135.00p 2.25%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 801.00p 2.04%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 157.30p 1.94%
Essentra (ESNT) 560.50p 1.91%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Inmarsat (ISAT) 763.00p -7.46%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 311.20p -5.24%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 665.50p -4.79%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 321.30p -3.08%
Rank Group (RNK) 206.90p -3.05%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 327.10p -2.50%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,066.00p -2.47%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 189.00p -2.43%
UBM (UBM) 699.00p -2.24%
G4S (GFS) 318.40p -2.06%