LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 250 index was up 0.19% at 19,895.34 in afternoon trade on Monday, with Kier Group leading the index higher.
The construction, services and property group topped the risers as it secured planning consent for its Logistics City scheme in Whiteley, Hampshire, where it plans to build three warehouse units totalling 58,664 sq ft.

Ferrexpo rose following heavy losses at the end of last week, as it rejected Deloitte's assertion that it delayed a review into donations to the Blooming Land charity in Ukraine in the latest exchange between the company and its former auditor over the affair.

Doorstep lender Provident Financial was in the green as Non-Standard Finance extended the deadline for its £1.3bn hostile offer to 15 May and urged the company's shareholders to accept it.

CYBG also crept higher after chief executive David Duffy said the business plans to find "big tech" partners once it has completed the integration of its Virgin Money acquisition.

Acacia Mining led the way lower after reporting weaker first quarter production last week, while Computacenter settled back down after surging on Friday when it said it remained in line to hit full-year targets.

Home repairs insurer Homeserve was hit by a downgrade to 'reduce' from 'hold' at HSBC, with analysts citing concern over capitalised customer acquisition costs, legacy goodwill and a delayed UK CRM system.

"HomeServe regularly buys existing customer books from future utility partners. As they also form the basis of a new marketing partnership, they look the same as organic agreements. The amortisation and capital expenditure costs are, however, treated as non-operational merger and acquisition items and hence stripped out of adjusted earnings and free cash flow," said analysts.

Oilfield services providers Petrofac and Hunting dropped alongside Premier Oil after oil prices slid over the weekend after US President Donald Trump pressured OPEC members to lower prices and ramp up production.

On a related note, Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) data shows speculative investors are building their long positions on oil, with a variety of supply side concerns pressuring prices higher. The questions are a) will the Iran sanctions matter longer term, b) how will demand growth evolve, c) will OPEC+ stick to cuts or open the taps in second half of 2019, and d) will US capacity constraints ease enough in the coming months as anticipated."

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,895.34 0.19%


FTSE 250 - Risers

Kier Group (KIE) 372.40p 5.20%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 157.60p 4.23%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 533.02p 4.11%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 199.26p 3.46%
IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 397.05p 2.81%
Provident Financial (PFG) 514.20p 2.80%
Grainger (GRI) 254.80p 2.49%
CYBG (CYBG) 209.85p 2.47%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,830.00p 2.28%
Softcat (SCT) 899.50p 2.22%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Acacia Mining (ACA) 139.30p -5.94%
Computacenter (CCC) 1,216.00p -4.63%
Homeserve (HSV) 1,087.00p -3.89%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 444.10p -2.87%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 468.90p -2.72%
Card Factory (CARD) 201.80p -2.42%
Indivior (INDV) 39.71p -2.13%
IWG (IWG) 337.90p -2.11%
Hunting (HTG) 579.50p -2.11%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 440.00p -1.79%

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