FTSE 250 movers: Hiscox and Alent hit by downgrades, miners lower

As of 14:45 BST, the FTSE 250 was trading 0.8% lower at 17,573.

Insurer Hiscox was in the red as analysts at Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to ‘underperform’ from ‘neutral’. “Whilst we continue to believe that Hiscox's exposure to retail customers has the ability to offset partly the negative trends seen at peers, the group trades at an all-time high premium to peers which we struggle to justify,” a note from the Swiss bank said.

Chemicals group Alent reversed Monday's gains, which came as it agreed to be acquired by US firm Platform Specialty Products in a £1.35bn deal. Numis Securities lowered its rating to 'hold' from 'add'.

Bovis Homes Group, Bellway and Berkeley Group were among the housebuilders knocked lower as Bank of England governor Mark Carney told the Treasury Select Committee that the bank rate may be headed higher a little bit sooner than markets anticipated.

Meanwhile International Personal Finance rebounded from Monday's surprise vote in the Polish parliament to cap all non-interest costs on consumer loans, which analysts warned could have a "significant detrimental impact" on its profitability in the country.

Risers
International Personal Finance (IPF) 378.60p +7.37%
Lonmin (LMI) 76.45p +3.31%
Laird (LRD) 372.20p +3.07%
Evraz (EVR) 120.80p +2.72%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 60.15p +1.95%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 455.90p +1.85%
Pace (PIC) 373.00p +1.47%
IP Group (IPO) 206.30p +1.33%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,379.00p +1.32%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,920.00p +1.27%

Fallers
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 1,099.00p -4.68%
Man Group (EMG) 150.60p -4.50%
Bellway (BWY) 2,293.00p -3.98%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 322.10p -3.85%
Hiscox Limited (CDI) (HSX) 872.50p -3.48%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,258.00p -2.78%
Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 384.10p -2.61%
Michael Page International (MPI) 540.50p -2.61%
Keller Group (KLR) 1,051.00p -2.59%
ICAP (IAP) 519.50p -2.53%