LONDON (ShareCast) - SuperGroup investors took heed of the 'buy' recommendation preferred by Canaccord Genuity, with the broker saying that the "brand [is] still in fashion, even if shares aren't". The shares have been under heavy selling pressure in recent weeks, which presents an "good buying opportunity".

Hedge fund operator Man Group saw its shares rise after it conditionally agreed to acquire US quantitative investment specialist Numeric for up to $494m in cash and options, to beef up its algorithm-based offering outside Europe and Asia.

Bus and rail group Stagecoach climbed after its 49% owned Virgin Rail joint venture has secured an extension to the West Coast rail franchise until March 2017, moving terms back onto a commercial basis, with Virgin paying more to assume revenue and cost risk. Virgin will pay more to the government up front, in return for the commercial terms. It has agreed to £433m in premium payments over the period of the contract, or £155.3m a year compared to £98.1m a year on the previous deal.

Train and bus group Go-Ahead rose after it reported a solid overall performance at both of its main businesses and said it now expects the rail division to deliver operating profit ahead of previous expectations, with second-half profits slightly lower than first half.

Berkeley Group was on the up after Deutsche Bank increased its target price from 2,587p to 2,877p, while Jefferies raised its target price from 2,477p to 2,543p.

On the downside, Rank Group came off recent gains, while African Barrick Gold investors ignored a rise in the yellow metal's price.

Kier Group fell despite the news it has scored a four-year contract worth £140m with Genesis Housing Association to deliver planned maintenance works across a portfolio of 33,000 properties in London and the east of England.


FTSE 250 - Risers
Supergroup (SGP) 939.50p +7.99%
Man Group (EMG) 106.30p +7.21%
Renishaw (RSW) 1,717.00p +5.08%
Northgate (NTG) 516.50p +4.62%
Genus (GNS) 1,108.00p +4.23%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 2,230.00p +4.16%
Foxtons Group (FOXT) 299.00p +4.00%
Polymetal International (POLY) 557.00p +3.72%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 2,254.00p +3.54%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,312.00p +3.31%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Rank Group (RNK) 160.00p -4.76%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,095.00p -4.53%
African Barrick Gold (ABG) 204.40p -4.53%
RPC Group (RPC) 623.00p -3.71%
Synthomer (SYNT) 238.50p -2.85%
Keller Group (KLR) 935.50p -2.65%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 127.10p -2.61%
Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 262.00p -2.60%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 615.00p -2.54%
Kier Group (KIE) 1,691.00p -2.42%

NR

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