London’s FTSE 250 was down 1.5% at 19,657.34 in afternoon trade on Thursday.
Recruiter PageGroup lost ground as it traded without entitlement to the dividend.
Currys was also in the red after the electricals retailer said Ian Dyson would succeed Ian Livingston as chairman this September.
On the upside, HomeServe surged after the emergency home repairs group agreed to be bought by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management in a £4.1bn deal.
Under the terms of the acquisition, HomeServe shareholders will receive 1,200p per share in cash. This is a 71% premium to the closing share price on 23 March, which was the last business day before the start of the offer period.
FTSE 250 – Risers
Homeserve (HSV) 1,163.00p 10.45%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 166.10p 5.19%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 504.00p 3.38%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 105.00p 2.84%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 120.20p 2.04%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 238.60p 1.97%
BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 4,345.00p 1.52%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,050.00p 1.35%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 228.20p 1.15%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 968.00p 1.15%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Pagegroup (PAGE) 451.80p -7.19%
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 196.50p -5.35%
Currys (CURY) 80.10p -5.09%
Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 123.60p -4.92%
Carnival (CCL) 1,003.50p -4.70%
Man Group (EMG) 228.80p -4.35%
National Express Group (NEX) 244.80p -4.30%
AJ Bell (AJB) 256.00p -4.26%
Mitie Group (MTO) 51.90p -4.07%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 111.70p -4.04%
