FTSE 250 movers: Sophos boosted by global cyber attack; energy shares gain

London's FTSE 250 was flat at 19,764.63 in afternoon trade, with miners and oil stocks on the rise.

Cyber security firm Sophos racked up the strongest gains on the back of the WannaCry ransomware attack which started to spread on Friday, hitting the NHS, German railways, Nissan and scores of other organisations across the globe.

Nicholas Hyett, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said significant increases in public sector cyber defence spending are now looking inevitable. He added that Sophos "already provides services to the healthcare industry and will be looking to increase selling to the sector in the aftermath of the attack".

Energy-related shares were also on the front foot as oil prices rallied after Saudi Arabia's energy minister Khalid al-Falih and Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said in Beijing that a joint deal to cut crude supplies would be extended until the end of March 2018 from the middle of this year. The 2016 agreement was to cut output by 1.8m barrels a day in the first half of this year and Russia and this latest agreement is expected to be on the same terms.

Tullow, Hunting, Amec Foster, Nostrum Oil & Gas and Cairn Energy were all in the black.

Miners advanced, with Hochschild, Kaz Minerals and Vedanta all higher as metals prices were boosted after Chinese President Xi Jinping said over the weekend that the 'One Belt, One Road' infrastructure initiative will get financing of $78bn as Beijing looks to strengthen infrastructure and trade links with the rest of the world. This helped to offset disappointing Chinese data, as retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investment all fell short of expectations.

Funeral provider Dignity pushed up as it reported a 15% jump in revenue for the first quarter as underlying profit and the number of deaths rose and the company reiterated its full-year expectations. The stock was also boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Investec, which hailed a "strong" start to the year.

Risers

Sophos Group (SOPH) 366.90p 7.53%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 206.40p 5.79%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 268.20p 5.38%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 463.30p 4.18%
Hunting (HTG) 574.50p 4.08%
Dignity (DTY) 2,618.00p 3.48%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 556.50p 3.25%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 489.70p 2.92%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 198.20p 2.91%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 632.50p 2.85%

Fallers

Allied Minds (ALM) 145.00p -3.97%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 92.75p -3.28%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 339.10p -2.73%
JRP Group (JRP) 128.00p -2.59%
Berendsen (BRSN) 829.50p -2.53%
Paysafe Group (PAYS) 468.70p -2.37%
Indivior (INDV) 327.10p -2.33%
Carillion (CLLN) 200.00p -1.86%
Vectura Group (VEC) 128.60p -1.76%
BTG (BTG) 717.50p -1.71%