FTSE 250 movers: Ocado keeps falling, Allied Minds lifted by paper tip

With less exposure to international companies than the blue chip benchmark, the FTSE 250 index was down 1.5% by mid afternoon, compared to the 2%-plus dip of the FTSE 100.

Worries about China were the cause of the widespread losses in London, Europe and the US on Monday, but the UK midcap index's main fallers were retail-focused.

Online grocer Ocado continued its recent decline, with a 5.9% fall on Monday meaning the company has slipped almost 16% since last week when US giant Amazon first revealed plans to accelerate its UK grocery strategy.

Property investment company CLS Holdings, which has almost 60% of its portfolio focused on the London property market, was the second largest loser, despite no specific news on the stock.

Fidelity China Special Situations was one of the few direct victims of the earlier Chinese stock market wobble in the FTSE 250, down almost 5%. The investment trust hit a high of 179.778p last May before being hit by the summer correction in the People's Republic, since when it has steadily crept higher.

The risers were being topped on Monday by Allied Minds, which was lifted by a recommendation as one of the Midas tips for 2016 in the Mail on Sunday. Although its shares have been hit hard last year, Allied Minds's has the support of many major investors for its portfolio of 23 companies spun out to commercialise technology developed by US government departments and major universities.

Another weekend recommendation, Keller, was also on the front foot. The US-focused construction group was tipped by Questor in the Sunday Telegraph as one of six shares that should outperform the market in 2016. Throwing off cash and with a powerful dividend record, the company is trading at an undemanding nine times forward earnings and as a specialist in building flood defences the company could benefit from forces in the UK as well as the recovery in the US economy.

Oil and gas explorer and producer Cairn Energy revealed results from well tests offshore Senegal that demonstrate the ability of the reservoirs to flow at commercially viable rates. Cairn said drill-stem testing was carried over a 12 metre interval which produced a stabilised but constrained oil flow rate of 8,000 barrels per day of high quality pay.

Elsewhere in the resources sector, Tullow Oil was helped by comments from Macquarie, which said the stock remained its preferred play on a 12-month basis "due to the prevalence of near-term catalysts and opportunities for value creation".

FTSE 250 - Risers

Allied Minds (ALM) 422.40p 5.60%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 176.00p 5.39%
Grainger (GRI) 243.00p 4.38%
Keller Group (KLR) 864.50p 3.72%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 162.50p 3.04%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 170.20p 2.72%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 183.50p 1.94%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 220.60p 1.47%
NMC Health (NMC) 851.00p 1.25%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 65.20p 1.24%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 286.30p -5.85%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,725.00p -5.22%
Lookers (LOOK) 175.60p -5.08%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 136.60p -4.87%
Atkins (WS) (ATK) 1,556.00p -4.31%
Weir Group (WEIR) 957.00p -4.30%
Genus (GNS) 1,489.00p -4.18%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 330.70p -4.17%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 296.90p -4.01%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 251.70p -3.93%