FTSE 250 movers: Future climbs, Funding Circle spirals lower

London's FTSE 250 climbed 0.91% higher to 19,639.21 in afternoon trade on Monday, with Future leading the index higher.

Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution

4,928.34

16:30 25/09/24

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Technology Hardware & Equipment

1,920.18

16:30 25/09/24

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The specialist media platform, which owns titles such as titles such as Tech Radar and Total Film, surged as it said full-year results would be above expectations, underpinned by acquisitions and good audience growth after positive trends seen in the first half of the year continued into the second six months.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Newspaper and magazine publishers continue to battle falling sales and have struggled to get readers to pay for their relatively generic content, but consumers have shown a greater willingness to pay for specialist and niche content which they are unable to get elsewhere. Future needs to get the balance right between making money out of the hobbyists who read its publications and ensuring they don’t feel exploited."

Premier Oil, Hunting and Wood Group gained as oil prices rose on reports that OPEC and its allies are on track to back an extension to supply cuts until at least the end of the year.

Spirent Communications climbed after President Trump said US companies will once again be permitted to resume shipments of components to Chinese tech giant Huawei, to whom Spirent supplies testing equipment, following meetings with Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Osaka.

While Funding Circle was the top faller, Stagecoach also slipped lower after analysts at Deutsche Bank cut the stock's target price from 170p to 155p, though analysts commented that actions being taken in regional bus to drive top line growth and to control non-fuel costs arelikely to allow stable profitability in FY20.

Finally, Centamin was lower on the back of a fall in gold prices, which slipped to lowest level in more than a week after the dollar strengthened and investors were encouraged to opt for riskier assets as the US and China agreed to restart trade talks.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,639.21 0.91%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Future (FUTR) 1,037.60p 7.08%
Drax Group (DRX) 275.20p 5.76%
Premier Oil (PMO) 81.00p 5.33%
Hunting (HTG) 537.50p 5.29%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 160.60p 5.10%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 551.20p 4.89%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 473.10p 4.67%
Playtech (PTEC) 446.40p 4.64%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 315.70p 3.54%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 227.50p 3.41%