FTSE 250 movers: Acacia sparkles, Kier slips

London's FTSE 250 was down 0.26% at 19,333.51 in afternoon trade on Friday, as troubled construction outfit Kier led the index lower.

SSP Group

159.00p

16:40 08/11/24

-0.25%

-0.40p

Meanwhile, Dixons Carphone declined for the second day in a row after posting a drop in full-year profit on Thursday and warning of further falls for the current trading year.

Analysts at Barclays downgraded their price target for the stock and cut 2019 earnings per share estimates from 0.22p to 0.14p, citing surprise at the electronics retailer's gloomy outlook for its mobile unit.

Shares in Domino's Pizza slumped after the company denied speculation that Andrew Rennie, the chief executive for Europe, was set to take over from UK & Ireland boss David Wild.

Domino's stock had risen sharply on Thursday after Sky News said the company was in advanced talks to replace Wild with Rennie, but Domino's said in a statement on the ASX on Friday that there is "no substance" to the speculation, and that Rennie has confirmed he is "committed to his current role".

At the other end of the pitch, gold miner Acacia shone after gold prices breached the $1,400 an ounce level for the first time since 2013 amid dovish signals from major central banks and rising tensions in the Middle East.

Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG, said: "The gold spike is driven by risk-off sentiment alongside dollar weakness, with overnight talk of a cancelled US strike on Iranian targets highlighting how close we are from a huge ramp-up in conflict between the two nations. While Trump may have called off the strike, the prospect of greater tension in the Middle East sent Brent crude into a three-week high this morning."

Finally, SSP Group climbed as analysts at Shore Capital restated their 'buy' rating for the stock and lauded its "significant" profit growth, Paragon Banking Group edged higher to recover ground it lost on Thursday, when RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock to 'underperform' from 'sector perform' and cut its price target to 410p from 440p.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,333.51 -0.26%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Acacia Mining (ACA) 184.50p 4.89%
SSP Group (SSPG) 671.00p 3.71%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 152.60p 3.53%
Saga (SAGA) 36.74p 3.49%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 202.50p 3.21%
Rank Group (RNK) 158.60p 2.72%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 212.00p 2.66%
Greencore Group (GNC) 217.30p 2.40%
Polymetal International (POLY) 947.20p 2.27%
Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 444.00p 2.26%