FTSE 250 movers: Nostrum gains on broker note; JRP slides on stake sale

London's FTSE 250 was off 0.2% at 18,922.66 in afternoon trade as Prime Minister Theresa May formally kicked off divorce proceedings with the European Union.

Nostrum Oil & Gas gushed higher after Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to 'outperform' from 'neutral' and hiked the price target to 535p from 440p, pointing to an eventful year ahead.

Transport operator Stagecoach advanced as a rise in UK rail revenues helped to offset a poor performance from the company's bus division in the pre-close trading update.

Polymers supplier Synthomer gained ground on the back of a rating upgrade from Peel Hunt.

On the downside, AA shares were weaker as it emerged that it will compensate thousands of customers who paid twice for the same roadside breakdown cover.

Shares in retirement specialist JRP fell after funds of Cinven and Permira sold a higher stake in the company than originally planned.

The funds, which had intended to sell an 8% stake in the group, or 75m shares, ended up selling a total of 95m shares, equating to a 10.2% stake, at 130p each.

Acacia Mining was under pressure as JP Morgan Cazenove cut the stock to 'neutral' from 'overweight' and the target price to 500p from 610p, saying the Tanzanian concentrate ban highlights near-term headwinds to the re-rating thesis.

"The recent concentrate export ban highlights the risk of being exposed to a single jurisdiction and as such we believe there are headwinds to the positive re-rating thesis until the market can re-gain comfort with Tanzanian risk and/or ACA can geographically diversify."

Polymetal was also hit by a downgrade from JPM, to 'underweight' from 'neutral',as the bank said it was its least preferred UK gold stock.

Risers

Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 455.00p 5.35%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 209.60p 5.17%
Evraz (EVR) 228.80p 4.95%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,066.00p 2.30%
Synthomer (SYNT) 472.30p 2.10%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 347.10p 2.06%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 228.70p 1.92%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 286.40p 1.89%
Monks Inv Trust (MNKS) 633.50p 1.69%
Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 2,325.00p 1.53%

Fallers

AA (AA.) 257.70p -4.73%
Polymetal International (POLY) 991.00p -4.71%
JRP Group (JRP) 133.30p -4.03%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 441.60p -3.22%
Berendsen (BRSN) 736.50p -3.22%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 170.50p -2.96%
Bellway (BWY) 2,703.00p -2.21%
Allied Minds (ALM) 301.10p -2.18%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 333.90p -2.17%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 532.00p -2.12%