FTSE 250 movers: Miners rally, housebuilders slump

The FTSE 250 index fell 0.83% to 17,831.76 points in afternoon trade on Monday.

Drax Group was the biggest riser as Credit Suisse reiterated an ‘outperform’ rating and raised its target price on the shares from 415p to 425p.

Credit Suisse said the European Commission might soon approve state aid to the company to help it transform its coal-fired generators at its power station in Derby.

The bank lifted its forecast for 2016 and 2017 earnings by 10% and 13% respectively. Credit Suisse also said it expects Drax to raise its dividend policy payout.

Miners were also sitting higher, including Vedanta Resources and Kaz Minerals, as RBC Capital said it expects recovery in commodity prices.

“Supply should continue to differentiate performance: Chinese economic stimulus and subsequent rebound in Chinese commodity demand and steel production underpinned a broad recovery in commodity prices,” the broker said.

RBC added: “We recommend investors increase exposure to non-precious metal mining shares: Continued improvement in global economic and commodity demand growth should support a gradual improvement in commodity markets and the outlook for mining shares. In the near term, with economic growth still weak and the shares fully valued relative to the underlying commodities, we believe the shares could still be vulnerable to a correction.”

On the downside, Crest Nicholson shares fell as part of a sector-wide decline of housebuilders as reports added to worries about the impact of Brexit.

EY Item Club said Britain faces a prolonged period of weaker growth as consumer spending slows and businesses curb investments. The think tank expects inflation will rise due to a weaker pound post Brexit, which may prompt consumers to refrain from spending.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Philip Hammond has reportedly been butting heads with other ministers during talks about Brexit.

Analysts at Jefferies nudged their target for Senior's shares from 245p to 250p and reiterated their 'buy' recommendation.

Nonetheless, the broker also said fiscal year 2016 remained a "difficult one" with their long-expected year of transition proving tougher than they had assumed. The broker cuts its estimates for earnings per share in 2016 and 2017.

Barclays bumped up its target price on stock of PayPoint from 890p to 1030p, highlighting the valuation disparity between payments and technology, with the former having underperformed during the third quarter.

That, the broker said, was "difficult to justify" given its structurally higher growth. Be that was it may, the new target price remained below the shares's current one at the time of writing.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Drax Group (DRX) 325.30p 4.50%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,136.00p 2.71%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 521.00p 2.06%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 259.70p 2.04%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 262.90p 1.82%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 646.50p 1.81%
SIG (SHI) 114.00p 1.24%
Ibstock (IBST) 159.60p 1.20%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 383.00p 1.06%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 211.00p 0.96%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

PayPoint (PAY) 1,096.00p -6.16%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,434.00p -3.82%
Rank Group (RNK) 195.40p -3.79%
G4S (GFS) 232.70p -3.72%
Renishaw (RSW) 2,779.00p -3.47%
Just Eat (JE.) 522.50p -3.33%
Senior (SNR) 210.90p -3.21%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 594.00p -3.10%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 320.20p -3.09%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 400.00p -2.89%