LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 250 was down by 0.91% at 20,240.28 in afternoon trading on Wednesday, as Tullow Oil pulled the index lower.

Shares in the oil and gas company tumbled after it cut its 2019 oil production guidance and said free cash flow for the year would be lower than expected due to issues at its Ghana field.

Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Nicholas Hyett said: "This is a salutary reminder that not all oil is made equal. Heavy and sulphurous crudes are expensive to refine and as a result attract bargain basement prices, that significantly undermines the commercial value of Tullow's Guyana assets - although the company hasn't given up hope of finding more profitable oil elsewhere in the basin."

Cineworld shares fell after an initiation at 'underweight' by analysts at Morgan Stanley.

Insurer Direct Line dropped after analysts at Goldman Sachs cut their price target for the stock from 320p to 290p ahead of the release of a trading statement next week.

Up at the other end of the index, miniature wargames retailer Games Workshop led the risers, while Electrocomponents recovered after having dropped on Tuesday when it reported a 4.3% drop in first-half pre-tax profit.

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets reduced growth forecasts and said that, while they remained fans of the industrial electronics distributor and its strategy, the business' comparatives remained tough and its outlook is uncertain.

B&M European Value Retail racked up solid gains, having slumped a day earlier after announcing a strategic review of its German business and reporting a fall in first-half profit.

Finally, JD Wetherspoon climbed after it backed its full-year expectations after posting a 5.6% increase in total sales for the 13 weeks to 27 October.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,240.28 -0.91%


FTSE 250 - Risers

Games Workshop Group (GAW) 5,640.00p 5.13%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 650.00p 3.17%
G4S (GFS) 208.20p 2.87%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 366.10p 2.61%
Softcat (SCT) 1,135.00p 2.25%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 1,558.00p 2.16%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 232.00p 1.98%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 2,716.00p 1.65%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,382.00p 1.62%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 112.75p 1.58%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Tullow Oil (TLW) 150.40p -26.95%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 128.40p -5.27%
Card Factory (CARD) 153.10p -4.97%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 285.00p -4.84%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 208.20p -4.71%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 120.65p -4.36%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 268.30p -4.28%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 67.50p -4.26%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,067.00p -3.77%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 672.00p -3.59%

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