FTSE 250 movers: Cream rises to the top as Greggs leads the way
The FTSE 250 was 0.73% lower in afternoon trade on Thursday amid ongoing geopolitical tension over North Korea, while bakery chain Greggs topped the movers.
Greggs was boosted almost 5% on the day after its stock was upgraded to ‘buy’ by analysts at Berenberg.
The research note affirmed that Greggs still had plenty of potential for expansion alongside a strong balance sheet, and its target price was also moved up to 1300p.
Ultra Electronics was another stock which saw strong gains on Thursday onn the 250 after saying earlier this week that rising geopolitical tensions made its biggest markets more secure.
Investors are alert to the continuing tensions surrounding North Korea, with the country’s government saying it was drawing up plans to launch a strike against the US territory of Guam, possibly later later this month.
Think Markets analyst Naeem Aslam said he expects the markets to return to normal soon.
"With the North Korean authorities taking the heat off the nuclear threats, we expect the market pressure to cool off, as long as the US President also manages to read "truce" between the lines," Aslam said.
DFS Furniture dropped to the bottom of the table, falling more than 7% after the chain warned its earnings for 2017 will be towards the lower end of its previous guidance.
The furniture company also said revenue had fallen 4% during the second quarter as store footfall and customer orders declined.
Following close behind was Ibstock, after reporting a slowdown at its US operations.
Polypipe also gushed lower as investors appear to be unconvinced by the company’s ‘record’ earnings report earlier this week.
FTSE 250 - Risers
Greggs (GRG) 1,173.00p 5.01%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 459.70p 4.88%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 630.50p 4.39%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,977.00p 4.33%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 721.50p 2.70%
Evraz (EVR) 270.20p 1.85%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 195.40p 1.77%
Polymetal International (POLY) 946.00p 1.28%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 223.70p 1.27%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 332.30p 1.25%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ibstock (IBST) 233.00p -6.01%
Polypipe Group (PLP) 383.10p -5.71%
Greene King (GNK) 664.50p -4.80%
Northgate (NTG) 425.90p -3.88%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 340.30p -3.43%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,741.00p -3.39%
Halfords Group (HFD) 320.20p -3.26%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 338.40p -3.20%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 28.00p -3.18%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 3,472.00p -2.96%