The FTSE 250 index was down 1.4% at 20,588.90 at 1400 BST.
Mining stocks felt the pinch as fears of a slowdown in China saw mining stocks take a tumble. Reports of panic buying in the capital Beijing emerged overnight as people feared a hard lockdown amid rising Covid cases that has seen the country’s biggest city of Shanghai shut down in the past month.
The news hit Blackrock Mining Trust, Hochschild Mining and Ferrexpo.
On the upside, shares in Polymetal rose as the company reported a rise in first-quarter revenue, driven by higher prices and despite a fall in production.
Revenue for the three months to March 31 increased 4% year on year to $616m. Production of gold equivalent was down 6% to 372,000 troy ounces. Polymetal said it still expected to produce 1.7 million ounces in 2022.
FTSE 250 – Risers
Polymetal International (POLY) 275.50p 2.04%
GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd (GCP) 120.00p 1.87%
Drax Group (DRX) 795.00p 1.73%
easyJet (EZJ) 577.40p 1.58%
Playtech (PTEC) 554.00p 1.28%
Centrica (CNA) 79.96p 0.99%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 3,150.00p 0.93%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 379.40p 0.69%
Great Portland Estates (GPE) 704.50p 0.64%
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 206.20p 0.59%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 669.00p -7.21%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 120.00p -5.59%
IWG (IWG) 256.10p -5.18%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 1,061.00p -5.01%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 225.20p -4.90%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 186.60p -4.60%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 805.20p -4.60%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 371.40p -4.48%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 311.00p -4.31%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 166.90p -4.30%
