LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - London's second-tier index started the week on the front foot as investors cheered news on both sides of the Pond that authorities were moving to gradually ease the lockdown measures put in place to stem the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hence gains for the likes of TUI or Hyve Group.

William Hill was also near the top of the leaderboard after analysts at Citi reiterated their 'buy' recommendation for the stock.

In a research note for the wider hotel and gaming sector, Citi concluded that all firms under its coverage could withstand the impact of the epidemic "for many months", despite assumptions such as a 73-80% drop in sales for hoteliers and of 44-65% for gaming operators.

Nevertheless, Citi went on to say that "if lockdowns are prolonged both online betting and gaming revenues could suffer."

The same broker also had positive things to say about UK lenders, Virgin Money in particular, which it said it "liked" among UK mid-ca[ banks.

"If 2020 loan losses are lowered than feared this should reaffirm investor faith in banks' balance sheets and we expect UK banks to re-rate in coming months," Citi said.



On the other side of the ledger, shares of Wood Group and Energean fell as the selling pressure on oil resumed, with the price of near-dated Brent down 8% on Monday.

Echoing a bearish forecast from the International Energy Agency during the previous week, analysts at JP Morgan told clients that the near-term outlook for crude was as clear as oil slick.

To put it crudely, there were doubts around the impact of the pandemic on emerging markets, the possibility of long-term changes to consumption patterns and about the final tally of the costs in terms of global GDP.

Yet looking further ahead, they more constructive.

"No doubt 2020 is an extremely tough macro for oil equities, but for the survivors we see positive decoupling, with improving scope for a far better outlook than seen in the recent past."

Market Movers

FTSE 250 (MCX) 15,952.72 1.69%

FTSE 250 - Risers

TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 314.40p 14.33%
Hyve Group (HYVE) 22.80p 14.00%
William Hill (WMH) 104.35p 12.69%
G4S (GFS) 93.66p 10.11%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 229.00p 9.20%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 67.00p 7.89%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 72.74p 7.83%
SSP Group (SSPG) 281.80p 7.15%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 260.00p 7.00%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,380.00p 6.97%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 157.75p -7.59%
Premier Oil (PMO) 25.17p -5.66%
Drax Group (DRX) 191.20p -5.25%
Vistry Group (VTY) 773.00p -4.92%
Energean Oil & Gas (ENOG) 620.00p -4.91%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 674.00p -2.74%
IP Group (IPO) 49.95p -2.63%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,020.00p -2.25%
Assura (AGR) 74.80p -2.09%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,322.00p -2.07%

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