FTSE 250 movers: Oil prices weigh on market

With only two weeks to Christmas, the FTSE 250 wasn’t feeling very festive on Friday after it fell 159.12 point (0.93%) to 16,921.13 by mid-afternoon.

Oil stocks weighed on the second-tier market as oil prices hit new lows on Friday. Brent hit a seven-year low at $38.84, while West Texas Intermediate was down to $35.99. That caused oil exploration and production company Premier Oil to lead the fallers, down nearly 15%. Tullow Oil and oil field services company Weir Group also featured in the top 10 fallers of the day.

Investec again took a hit, still reeling from political issues in South Africa. It’s the second day of major falls for the company after a broker downgrade and weaker rand weighed on the stock on Thursday. It comes after South Africa's president unexpectedly sacked finance minister Nhlanhla Nene.

“Removing him (moved elsewhere is the party line) after just two and a half years and installing the unknown David van Rooyen is a decision that has sent the ZAR to all times lows and resulted in foreign investors running for the savannah, worried about the impact on an already troubled yet key mining sector,” said Accendo Markets’ Mike van Dulken.

Shares in International Personal Finance tanked after the company said it could be hurt by new legislation in Slovakia. On Wednesday, the Slovak parliament voted to adopt previously undiscussed proposals to amend various pieces of consumer legislation, including changes to the Civil Code prohibiting contracts for ancillary services that relate to the customer’s fulfilment of an underlying agreement.

IPF said it was reviewing the draft amendments to assess the extent to which its product structure would be affected by the proposed changes. “Based on our current understanding, these changes would mean that all fees that IPF raises in connection with the issuance of a loan, including the fee for home service, would need to be levied at rates consistent with the remuneration cap," the company said.

On the other side of the ledger, housebuilder Bellway said it expects total completions and average selling prices to rise in the full year as it reported an "excellent" start to the current financial year. In a trading update for the 18-week period from 1 August to 6 December, it said the reservation rate increased 12% to 165 homes per week, up from 147 in the same period last year.

The group said customer demand has continued to be robust throughout the usually quiet summer months and on into the traditionally stronger autumn selling season. The average selling price in respect of reservations taken in the period rose 5.8% to £252,100, which Bellway said was modestly ahead of expectations thanks to the favourable pricing environment and ongoing investment in higher value locations.

And leading the risers was Jimmy Choo. With no material news from today, it can only be assumed it is due to a brush with royal feet. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge was spotted wearing a pair of black Jimmy Choo pumps on a visit to Action on Addiction's Centre for Addiction Treatment Studies in Wiltshire.

FTSE 250 - Risers

Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 110.20p 3.96%
Foxtons Group (FOXT) 186.90p 3.83%
Bellway (BWY) 2,666.00p 3.78%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,570.00p 3.56%
Dignity (DTY) 2,380.00p 3.34%
Fidessa Group (FDSA) 1,929.00p 2.83%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 174.00p 2.72%
International Public Partnerships Ltd. (INPP) 141.40p 2.17%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 304.30p 2.11%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 6,190.00p 2.06%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Premier Oil (PMO) 48.69p -14.80%
Investec (INVP) 410.70p -12.60%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 287.70p -10.79%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 160.80p -9.20%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 285.00p -8.45%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 209.40p -7.63%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 358.40p -6.64%
Evraz (EVR) 68.00p -6.14%
Weir Group (WEIR) 988.50p -5.23%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 379.50p -5.13%