London’s FTSE 250 was up 0.9% at 23,812.07 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Covid-19 vaccine producer Oxford Biomedica pushed higher after saying it swung to a profit in the half year on the back of a surge in revenues.
888 Holdings was also in the black as FTSE 100 rival Entain surged after saying it was considering a £16.4bn takeover offer from DraftKings.
On the downside, Imperial Leather maker PZ Cussons lost ground after it posted higher full-year profits as sales of hygiene products soared, but said first-quarter sales had fallen against tough comparators during the height of the Covid pandemic.
National Express was also in the red, having gained a day earlier on news that it and fellow transport operator Stagecoach were in talks about a possible merger.
FTSE 250 – Risers
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 1,622.00p 9.74%
888 Holdings (888) 479.80p 7.10%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 383.20p 5.80%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 216.60p 5.40%
Investec (INVP) 292.70p 5.29%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 182.00p 4.24%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,100.00p 4.17%
Energean (ENOG) 845.00p 4.06%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,725.00p 3.79%
Hammerson (HMSO) 33.65p 3.38%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
JTC (JTC) 763.00p -4.63%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 222.00p -3.69%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 549.00p -3.51%
National Express Group (NEX) 232.60p -3.08%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 357.00p -2.67%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 110.20p -2.30%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,395.00p -1.84%
Drax Group (DRX) 494.60p -1.67%
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 5,310.00p -1.67%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 269.00p -1.47%
