LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Shares of Evraz topped the leaderboard on the second-tier index following data showing a re-acceleration in Chinese factory sector activity.
Caixin's manufacturing sector Purchasing Managers' Index jumped from a reading of 50.8 in November to 51.5 for December, helping to boost sentiment towards the steel maker and the Mining sector more generally.

In the background, a US dollar spot index near its 52-week low also helped the shares to find a bid.

Tuesday's economic data out of China also saw the Fidelity China Special Situations fund draw a bid.


Shares in Greene King were also higher, despite a downgrade out of JP Morgan to 'underweight' and downwards price target revision from 650p to 500p.

In a research note covering the year ahead, JP Morgan described the company as an "underperforming pub estate with severe cost headwinds."

Relative to other economies, JP Morgan was not especially upbeat regarding the macro outlook for the UK either.

"The main risk to our house view that real GDP growth will remain positive in 2018 (+1.6%) is the possibility of the Brexit talks breaking down. The main upside risk comes from the strengthening global backdrop. We expect a 50 bps tightening by the Bank of England in 2018 in the context of a sustained overshoot in CPI inflation. In this subdued and uncertain environment, we prefer to invest in businesses that are resilient to a domestic slowdown and in those with significant exposure to growing economies outside the UK," JP Morgan said.


Investors in Drax Group also brushed off some negative analysts chatter. Specifically, Credit Suisse's decision to mark down its target for the shares from 370p to 350p.

To take note of in the case of Sophos Group, the Daily Mail´s James Coney tipped the stock as his favourite for 2018.

FTSE 250 - Risers

AA (AA.) 176.95p 4.09%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,401.00p 4.01%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 304.50p 3.89%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 832.49p 3.48%
Evraz (EVR) 350.30p 3.03%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,526.00p 2.48%
Provident Financial (PFG) 919.60p 2.41%
Vectura Group (VEC) 120.40p 2.29%
Greene King (GNK) 567.40p 2.23%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 203.20p 2.11%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,250.00p -4.21%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 207.34p -3.02%
Aggreko (AGK) 776.00p -2.88%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 2,040.00p -2.67%
Just Group (JUST) 166.10p -2.52%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 172.00p -2.49%
Diploma (DPLM) 1,216.00p -2.49%
RPC Group (RPC) 859.60p -2.48%
Marshalls (MSLH) 443.80p -2.44%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 241.50p -2.42%

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:

• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• STUMBLEUPON
• MIXX
• YAHOO BUZZ
• DELICIOUS
• REDDIT
• NEWSVINE