LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 250 was down 0.15% at 19,626.04 in afternoon trade on Wednesday, with Metro Bank leading the index lower.
The challenger bank topped the fallers as analysts from Barclays reiterated their 'underweight' rating, labelling Metro's operating outlook "weak", alongside their expectation of further equity injections beyond 2019 and an "un-compelling valuation" at approximately 25x forward earnings.

Cairn Energy, Weir Group and Tullow Oil dropped lower as oil prices slipped on the news that Washington and Tehran have signalled they are open to negotiations in their dispute over Iran's uranium enrichment programme.

At the other end of the index, property investment company CLS Holdings led the risers after agreeing to sell its Quayside Lodge property in Fulham to SMC Fulham for £19m, for a 14% premium to the property's 31 December 2018 valuation.

TalkTalk was in the green after it reported a 1.3% rise in first-quarter revenues on the back of strong demand for fibre products, and backed its full-year guidance.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "For a company with such a troubled history as TalkTalk, saying that earnings guidance is unchanged is cracking news for its shareholders. They can breathe a sigh of relief that there aren't new problems to depress the share price and that the business is getting on with the day job. And to its credit, customer churn rates are low, and it has nearly double the number of net customer additions to its fibre products."

Housebuilder Galliford Try rallied after saying that it expects annual pre-tax profit to be in line with the current range of analysts' expectations amid "good" housing demand.

Finally, Sanne Group also made gains after stating that a £381,010 settlement between its subsidiary, Sanne Fiduciary Services Limited and the Jersey Financial Services Commission is not expected to have any material impact on the group.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,626.04 -0.15%


FTSE 250 - Risers

CLS Holdings (CLI) 226.00p 5.85%
Future (FUTR) 998.00p 3.96%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 301.50p 3.79%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 109.70p 3.78%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 633.00p 3.60%
Rank Group (RNK) 158.40p 3.53%
Sanne Group (SNN) 739.00p 2.64%
Capita (CPI) 114.50p 2.23%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 134.20p 2.21%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 220.00p 2.09%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Metro Bank (MTRO) 472.33p -5.46%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 162.40p -4.64%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,528.00p -3.41%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,334.00p -3.33%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,472.34p -3.07%
Amigo Holdings (AMGO) 175.90p -2.92%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 980.40p -2.83%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 202.80p -2.78%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 254.90p -2.67%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 232.00p -2.52%

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