FTSE 250 movers: Future, gold diggers, homebuilders all higher

Specialist publisher Future said on Monday that, with around two months of the current financial year remaining, its trading was expected to be towards the top end of market expectations, pushing its shares to the top of the leaderboard.

FTSE 250

20,635.37

17:09 07/11/24

n/a

FTSE 350

4,495.56

17:10 07/11/24

n/a

FTSE All-Share

4,453.48

16:30 07/11/24

n/a

Hochschild Mining

235.00p

16:35 07/11/24

0.43%

1.00p

Mining

11,474.12

17:04 07/11/24

-0.16%

-18.76

Petropavlovsk

1.20p

16:34 11/07/22

0.00%

0.00p

Hochschild Mining and Petropavlovsk were also conspicuous gainers as gold futures extended their recent gains past the $1,800/oz. level.

In a research note sent to clients, Citi analyst Ed Morse argued that it was only a matter of time before the yellow metal set a fresh record high.

Gold prices were benefiting from easy monetary policy, low inflation-adjusted bond yields, record flows into exchange-traded funds and increased appetite from investors for the metal, the analyst said.

Morse forecast that the price of gold would hit an all-time high over the next six to nine months, putting the odds of gold atop $2,000/oz. in the next three to five months at 30%.

Silver futures were higher too on Monday, topping the $20/oz. mark for the first time since 2016.

Homebuilders were also on the up with analysts at Citi putting stock of Bellway on a positive catalyst watch.

Adding to the positive sentiment, property website Rightmove reported that average asking prices for homes across England, Scotland and Wales hit a record high at the beginning of July.

Average asking prices were up 2.4% since before the lockdown, at a record £320,265, with the annual pace of growth in prices running at 3.7% - the highest since December 2016.

TalkTalk was also higher, ahead of its first quarter trading update that was due out on the next day.

Going the other way, travel and leisure was clearly the weakest segment in the market amid ongoing fears about how the pandemic would drag on efforts to reopen the economy.

Shares of First Group, Mitchells&Butler's, Trainline, Carnival, TUI AG, Go Ahead Group, easyJet, National Express and PPHE Hotel Group were all lower.

Earlier, consultancy Deloitte reported that 49% of finance chiefs at Britain's largest firms believed that their companies' sales would not return to pre-pandemic levels until the back half of 2021.

Underscoring the challenge posed by rising numbers of infections, the US state of Florida reported 12,000 new cases of Cobid-19 on Sunday, marking the fifth consecutive day that infections ran above 10,000.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,376.02 0.16%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Future (FUTR) 1,362.00p 12.56%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 250.20p 7.01%
Energean (ENOG) 569.00p 4.40%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,370.00p 4.10%
IP Group (IPO) 68.60p 3.94%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,153.00p 3.78%
Bellway (BWY) 2,709.00p 3.44%
Meggitt (MGGT) 312.80p 3.03%
Softcat (SCT) 1,180.00p 2.61%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 283.00p 2.54%