FTSE 250 movers: Kennedy Wilson surges but Tritax slumps

London's FTSE 250 was up 1.2% to 19,597.79 in afternoon trade as investors bet that centrist Macron will beat far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen in the second round of the French elections.

Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate surged after it agreed terms of a recommended all-share merger with parent company Kennedy Wilson Holdings.

Under the terms of the merger, each KWE scheme shareholder will be entitled to receive 0.667 new KW shares for each of their shares.

Computacenter was a high riser after the IT infrastructure company said it expects to beat market expectations for 2017following a solid first quarter.

"We believe that the group's performance for 2017 as a whole will exceed current market expectations due to buoyant market conditions for new investments in technology, particularly seen by our German business, backed up by steady progress in France and UK and favourable currency movements," it said.

Bookmaker William Hill racked up solid gains as UBS upgraded its stance on the stock to 'neutral'.

Tritax Big Box was weaker after announcing that it will raise £200m in equity in order to capitalise on property investment opportunities.

TalkTalk was on the back foot, giving back some of the strong gains it saw on Friday following an upgrade by HSBC.

Risers

Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate (KWE) 1,124.00p 14.87%
Computacenter (CCC) 782.50p 6.68%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 152.90p 4.37%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,998.00p 3.95%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 92.30p 3.42%
Essentra (ESNT) 529.00p 3.32%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 433.00p 3.27%
William Hill (WMH) 302.00p 3.18%
Fidelity European Values (FEV) 201.10p 3.13%
Evraz (EVR) 211.80p 3.07%

Fallers

Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) 140.10p -4.82%
Allied Minds (ALM) 159.20p -4.67%
Vectura Group (VEC) 142.90p -3.64%
BTG (BTG) 624.00p -2.88%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 194.70p -1.57%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,008.00p -1.47%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 983.00p -1.31%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 352.00p -1.23%
PayPoint (PAY) 1,012.00p -1.08%
Marston's (MARS) 141.50p -0.91%