LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 250 was up 0.93% at 18,652.82 in afternoon trade on Monday as Dunelm soared on the back of a positive broker note.
Home furnishings retailer Dunelm was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold' and a target price hike to 750p from 550p at Peel Hunt, which highlighted the company's "strong foundations".

"Notwithstanding Brexit, we see clear catalysts for recovery in 2019 from a renewed focus on the core offer, improved brand awareness and an accelerating online performance as Dunelm fulfils its multi-channel potential. Shareholder returns will also benefit from the potential return of special dividends from next year," the broker said.

Miners rallied, with Ferrexpo and Kaz Minerals both trading higher as energy-related stocks also pushed upwards, with Premier Oil, Tullow Oil, Hunting and Weir all up as oil prices surged on the back of improving Sino-US relations.

Commercial and industrial air humidification equipment manufacturer Spirax-Sarco Engineering gained after saying it had sold its German HygroMatik unit to Carel Industries for €59m (£52m).

On the downside, tour operator Thomas Cook tanked once again, with traders pointing to a Berenberg note out late last week in which it cut the stock to 'sell' from 'hold' and slashed the price target to 12p from 65p.

"While its performance has undoubtedly been affected by the weather, we fear that this is merely papering over the cracks of a structurally challenged business model. With TCG's bond yields now over 10%, operational performance weak and cash generation anaemic, the risk that the company will need fresh equity is, in our view, back on the agenda. Given this heady cocktail, we think that TCG shares are currently uninvestable," said Berenberg.

Ted Baker shares tumbled as it said it will launch an investigation following a petition from its staff over a culture of "forced hugs" at the company, with founder and chief executive officer Ray Kelvin under fire for his behaviour, while Southend airport owner Stobart Group dropped as it announced it would cut its fourth-quarter dividend.

Construction group Kier declined as Liberum put the stock under review, noting that while it will have a stronger balance sheet moving forward, last week's rights issue leaves the group's cash flow looking "poor".

Finally, plastic packaging supplier RPC fell as it said buyout talks with Bain Capital have ended but that the deadline for Apollo Global Management to make an offer has been pushed back to 1700 GMT on 21 December.

Market Movers


FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,652.82 0.93%


FTSE 250 - Risers

Dunelm Group (DNLM) 622.50p 14.85%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 190.00p 8.39%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 596.20p 8.16%
Premier Oil (PMO) 75.60p 7.01%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,563.50p 6.07%
Spectris (SXS) 2,530.00p 5.68%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 194.50p 5.48%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 3,190.00p 5.11%
Hunting (HTG) 594.00p 4.85%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 6,415.00p 4.56%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 24.40p -18.94%
Ted Baker (TED) 1,541.00p -15.61%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 176.23p -10.82%
Kier Group (KIE) 478.80p -5.75%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 117.50p -5.39%
RPC Group (RPC) 679.40p -5.22%
Civitas Social Housing (CSH) 100.00p -4.76%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,656.00p -3.94%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,270.00p -3.81%
Keller Group (KLR) 569.00p -2.90%

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