London’s FTSE 250 was down 1% at 21,276.52 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Vesuvius was in the red after a downgrade to ‘underweight’ from ‘equalweight’ at Barclays, which cut its price target to 375p from 485p.
Outsourcer Mitie was also under the cosh following reports that UK competition investigators had raided its offices and are examining the emails of senior staff, after the Home Office raised concerns about suspected anti-competitive behaviour.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is examining the relationship between Mitie and US firm PAE, who operate a joint venture for the Ministry of Defence but were also competing to run Home Office immigration removal centres, at Derwentside, in County Durham, and Heathrow airport.
Going the other way, Energean and Tullow Oil both rallied as oil prices rose.
FTSE 250 – Risers
Energean (ENOG) 1,156.00p 4.62%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 53.38p 4.26%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 1,216.00p 3.05%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 91.00p 2.73%
TP Icap Group (TCAP) 151.70p 2.36%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 745.00p 2.05%
FirstGroup (FGP) 114.30p 2.05%
Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) 152.20p 1.87%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 127.50p 1.67%
Capricorn Energy (CNE) 220.20p 1.66%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Vesuvius (VSVS) 334.60p -6.17%
Trainline (TRN) 201.20p -6.16%
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 3,405.00p -5.94%
Currys (CURY) 95.15p -5.13%
Mitie Group (MTO) 57.10p -4.99%
Bodycote (BOY) 651.50p -4.89%
Coats Group (COA) 76.20p -4.75%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 377.80p -4.60%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 148.70p -4.56%
Rank Group (RNK) 133.80p -4.15%
