FTSE 250 movers: Miners unearth gains as Thomas Cook takes a dip

Miners Ferrexpo and Kaz Minerals racked up strong gains as metal prices rose, with copper prices buoyed by the news that China imported near record volumes of the metal last month and prices on track for their first weekly rise in the last three.

Hungarian budget airline Wizz Air rose sharply after Berenberg reiterated its 'buy' rating as it said fears about a profit warning offer considerable upside for investors as the current share price now factors in a sizeable cut to FY2019 guidance. Even so, analysts cut their price target on the stock to 3,800p from 4,000p. "We believe the market has extrapolated Ryanair and easyJet's company-specific challenges; we find such weakness unlikely at Wizz."

The JPMorgan Indian Investment Trust rose after the recently published IMF World Economic Outlook predicted that India’s economy would grow at 7.3% in 2018 and 7.4% in 2019, up from 6.7% in 2017, outpacing projected Chinese growth. The IMF attributed the country's strong growth to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies, like the implementation of the national goods and service tax and the insolvency and bankruptcy code, as well as market liberalisation measures.

Airline and package holiday operator Thomas Cook fell sharply after chief executive Christoph Debus revealed fears that air traffic could be grounded for as long as a week after Britain leaves the European Union due to confusion over international air traffic rules.

At present, British airlines enjoy unlimited flying rights to and from the EU as part of the single market's common aviation rulebook, but no post-Brexit framework is in place yet in terms of regulations according to Debus. "It cannot be ruled out that air traffic will be grounded for a day or a week," Debus told reporters in Berlin.

Victrex fell after the company was downgraded to 'underweight' at Morgan Stanley, which also dropped its target price for the polymer developers shares from 2,500p to 2,300p. "Victrex has enjoyed a material re-rating over the last 12 months, due to strong cyclical volume growth, lagging FX tailwinds and the expectation of sustained special dividends, all of which could disappoint in FY'19," the investment bank said.

Tech-focused hedge fund manager Man Group saw its shares drop even as the company reported that its funds under management edged up to $114.1bn from $113.7bn in the past three months.

There were net inflows of $0.4bn despite the previously announced $2.2bn infrastructure mandate redemption.

Shore Capital rated the company's shares as 'buy' with a target price of 145p, describing Man Group as its "top pick" in the sector. "Despite a somewhat dull period for investment performance, we continue to believe than Man Group...operates a superior business model within the active asset management space. Its strategies have the ability to capture additional revenue during periods of strong investment performance."

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,025.28 1.05%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 225.00p 7.40%
Genus (GNS) 2,236.00p 6.58%
Contour Global (GLO) 169.00p 6.36%
Hunting (HTG) 758.50p 6.08%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,465.00p 5.84%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 501.40p 5.23%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 266.50p 4.92%
JPMorgan Indian Investment Trust (JII) 593.50p 4.86%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 469.10p 4.85%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 24.84p 4.81%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 47.22p -4.37%
Equiniti Group (EQN) 203.00p -4.02%
Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 1,617.00p -3.84%
Victrex plc (VCT) 2,646.00p -3.57%
Senior (SNR) 281.60p -3.30%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,426.00p -3.06%
Cobham (COB) 107.85p -2.71%
Man Group (EMG) 142.30p -2.17%
IP Group (IPO) 110.40p -1.95%
Essentra (ESNT) 370.60p -1.75%