FTSE 250 movers: Miners and oilers suffer but Hikma given shot in the arm

London's second-tier index finished down 0.9% at 20,320.35 on Wednesday, with mining and oil shares suffering heavy losses on the back of US dollar strength and falling metal and crude prices.

Kaz Minerals and Ferrexpo both dropped significantly in afternoon trading.

A stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Copper, platinum and palladium are weaker as traders are concerned the Chinese economy is cooling, observed market analyst David Madden at CMC Markets, and yesterday’s disappointing fixed asset investment and industrial production reports from Beijing confirmed their fears. "The renminbi has been steadily losing ground versus the US dollar since March and it’s near its all-time-low, and that sums up the cautious sentiment surrounding China."

Gold miners were also being hit by the muscular dollar, with Centamin and Hochschild Mining down almost 6% and 4% respectively.

“Gold’s accelerating slide may seem all the more surprising," said Russ Mould, investment director at broker AJ Bell, "since it is seen by some as a haven in times of strife and could therefore be a possible beneficiary of wider concerns over Turkey’s woes and their possible impact upon emerging and financial markets more generally.

“However, one powerful force is working against gold and that is the dollar. Like most raw materials gold is priced in dollars, so if the greenback goes up then the precious metal becomes more expensive to buy in local-currency terms, potentially dampening demand."

Oil companies Premier Oil, Tullow Oil and Energean Oil and Gas were also among the top fallers as oil prices sunk by around 3% after government data showed an unexpected jump in stockpiles of US crude, compounding pressure as the outlook for global economic growth darkened and the stock market declined.

US commercial crude inventories rose by 6.8m barrels in the week through 10 August, according to the energy information administration, contrary a in a Reuters poll which had seen analysts forecast that stockpiles would fall by 2.5m barrels.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals was the top riser in afternoon trading after lifting its full-year revenue forecasts for its Generics and Injectables businesses. The company reported an 11% improvement in group revenue to $989m, a 54% increase in operating profit to $174m and core group operating profit rose 22% to $214m.

Analysts at both Peel Hunt and Numis reiterated their 'hold' ratings for shares of the pharmaceutical company, with the former recommending a target price of 1,160p and the latter 1,730p.

Georgian duo TBC Bank and Bank of Georgia Group both saw their shares start to recover after several days of sustained decreases in price, the latter company having started on the road to recovery on Tuesday.

TBC also benefited from Peel Hunt reiterating its 'buy' rating for shares in the company, reporting that they were "confident" the Georgian banking group's underlying results would again highlight the consistency of its returns upon their release on Monday.

The broker also reiterated its 2,150p target price and stated that TBC was "well positioned" to continue serving the needs of the booming Georgian economy, as well as meeting the ongoing developments of banking.

Energy investment firm Riverstone Energy also saw its shares jump after the company's half-year results reported that it swung to a profit of $10.75bn from a loss of $30.55bn on the back of $280m of gross realisations.

The company posted a 5% increase in net asset value up to $1.75bn, and a net asset value per share of $20.76 or £15.72.

Riverstone said it “took advantage” of favourable market conditions to exit Three Rivers Natural Resources Holdings III and sell 4.4 million shares in Centennial Resource Development, of which $280m of gross proceeds were received during the period, resulting in a gross internal rate of return of 47% for shareholders.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,288.10 -1.08%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,780.00p 8.08%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 271.37p 3.38%
Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 1,663.80p 2.75%
Riverstone Energy Limited (RSE) 1,226.00p 1.83%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 349.60p 1.81%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 964.00p 1.80%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,574.00p 1.68%
Cobham (COB) 126.80p 1.24%
Softcat (SCT) 828.00p 1.22%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 1,184.00p 1.20%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 555.20p -9.37%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 157.35p -8.41%
Premier Oil (PMO) 109.70p -7.19%
Greencore Group (GNC) 167.80p -5.84%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 212.90p -5.63%
Just Group (JUST) 90.90p -5.26%
Playtech (PTEC) 520.80p -4.79%
Energean Oil & Gas (ENOG) 515.00p -4.63%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 106.50p -4.31%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 219.13p -4.10%