LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 250 was up 0.97% at 19,193.03 in afternoon trade on Wednesday, with Amigo Holdings leading the index higher ahead of the release of its interim results next week.
Polymer solutions provider Victrex was also on the up after an upgrade to 'equalweight' from Barclays, which highlighted 20% upside risk to consensus 2021 earnings per share estimates.

"Victrex is still at the mercy of volatile market conditions in autos and electronics especially but our new, no-deal base case for Brexit introduces powerful mitigating forces in the form of a weaker GBP. We're loathe to pick stocks based on binary macro events but, equally, Victrex is a pure UK exporter so we can't ignore them either," said the analysts.

Tullow Oil was lifted by an upgrade to 'buy' from 'speculative buy' at Canaccord Genuity, with analysts stating that the recent offshore Jethro-1 exploration well success in Guyana opened up "a fresh and much-needed growth front for the company".

Bodycote followed close behind as analysts from Berenberg slashed the stock's target price from 845.0p to 735.0p but said they were "increasingly positive" after its resilient first half performance.

Down at the other end of the index, OneSavings Bank dropped as it reported a rise in interim profit ahead of its merger with rival Charter Court Financial, as the loan book grew amid high demand from its core market segment, but a drop in the net interest margin. The company also said it had tightened its underwriting criteria "in light of the current macroeconomic outlook".

Charter Court Financial was also on the back foot after its first-half results, which showed a drop in pre-tax profit as higher expenses took their toll.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,193.03 0.97%


FTSE 250 - Risers

Amigo Holdings (AMGO) 162.70p 6.90%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 437.80p 5.85%
Victrex plc (VCT) 1,995.89p 5.27%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 215.21p 4.12%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 714.50p 3.85%
Ted Baker (TED) 939.00p 3.76%
Bodycote (BOY) 688.00p 3.61%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 300.73p 3.48%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 167.80p 3.13%
Marston's (MARS) 122.02p 3.05%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

OneSavings Bank (OSB) 339.20p -4.56%
Charter Court Financial Services Group (CCFS) 280.00p -3.95%
Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) 42.08p -3.82%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 414.90p -3.60%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 340.09p -2.83%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 283.88p -2.78%
PayPoint (PAY) 887.00p -2.42%
Sanne Group (SNN) 524.41p -2.35%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 404.50p -1.34%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 178.35p -1.16%

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