FTSE 250 movers: Oilers rise on OPEC agreement while Sirius dives

London's FTSE 250 was up 1.15% at 17,957.43 in afternoon trade on Friday, as oilers powered upward on the back of an OPEC decision to cut production.

Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution

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Premier Oil gushed higher as it said year-to-date group production year to date had averaged 79,400 barrels a day, hitting a record 98,700 this week, and completed the sale of its interests in the Babbage Area to Verus Petroleum for £30.3m to cut debt.

The rise came as fellow oilers Tullow and Petrofac, as well as oilfield engineer Weir, were on song after oil prices soared following OPEC and Russia's agreement to cut 1.2m barrels of oil per day from global supply.

Games Workshop was on the front foot after saying first-half results would be in line with expectations for the year, while Rotork was boosted by an upgrade to ‘neutral’ with a target price of 250p at Credit Suisse.

Swiss-based commodity trading and mining company Ferrexpo was on the rise for the second session in a row after it announced a special dividend as the company reported that it had continued to trade as expected in the second half of 2018.

Fertiliser company Sirius Minerals was the big faller of the day, dropping in the latest of a sustained period of falls that have followed Sirius' admission that the cost of its project could be up to $600m more than previous estimates and leaving the share price at 21p, far below the 38p it enjoyed in early August.

Animal genetics company Genus was also trading lower after saying it raised £68m in a share placing at 2,200p, which represents a 7.8% discount to the closing price of 2,386p on Thursday.

Intellectual property business IP Group was battered by a downgrade to ‘underperform’ at Jefferies, with the bank trimming the price target to 95p from 119p, while speciality chemicals and personal care company Elementis inched lower after JPMorgan cut its price target from 290p to 225p.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,957.43 1.15%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Premier Oil (PMO) 74.00p 11.95%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 189.25p 7.22%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 3,175.00p 6.01%
Quilter (QLT) 116.70p 5.53%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,435.50p 4.74%
Rotork (ROR) 249.00p 4.62%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 192.05p 4.57%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 488.50p 4.11%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 239.90p 4.03%
Just Group (JUST) 83.10p 3.87%