FTSE 250 movers: Close Brothers leads the way as Spire spirals downwards
The FTSE 250 index was up 0.78% in late trading on Thursday after the selling endured over the course of the previous two weeks, with merchant banking group Close Brothers leading the charge.
Close Brothers was trading over 7% higher after it announced that its loan book had increased by 1.4% during the first quarter.
The lender also said it had made a "good start" to the year with strong performances across its three divisions.
Shares of housebuilder Crest Nicholson bounced back on Thursday after putting in one of the weakest performances in the previous session on the heels of analysts warning that profits for the year could come in at the lower end of management guidance.
Crest also benefited from an upgrade to its recommendation from Shore Capital, to 'buy' from 'hold'.
IT company Aveva also got a boost, following an upgrade from broker JPMorgan.
The investment bank moved its stock recommendation to 'overweight' from 'neutral' and lifted its 12-month target price to 3200p.
On the red side of the ledger, Spire Healthcare Group tanked just short of 9% after Mediclinic International said no agreement has been reached on any of the key terms associated with the merger between the two firms.
Mediclinic said talks have progressed, but not sufficiently to proceed.
Dignity also fell more than 8% after analysts at Berenberg hit the funeral service provider with a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' as it is unsure how it will respond to growing competition.
TalkTalk came under selling pressure on Thursday in the wake of a downgrade to 'sector perform' from RBC Capital Markets after the company said the day before that it swung to a loss despite a strong rise in new customers.
FTSE 250 - Risers
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 1,395.00p 6.00%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 525.00p 5.80%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,011.00p 5.42%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 164.00p 4.73%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 602.00p 4.06%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 154.60p 3.69%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 25.90p 3.60%
Playtech (PTEC) 832.50p 3.54%
Provident Financial (PFG) 898.00p 3.34%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,611.00p 3.24%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 270.70p -8.73%
Dignity (DTY) 1,983.00p -8.41%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 165.10p -7.35%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 206.60p -6.09%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 261.20p -5.02%
Coats Group (COA) 82.60p -4.29%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 3,460.00p -3.30%
Polymetal International (POLY) 870.50p -3.12%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 225.10p -2.47%
The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited (TRIG) 103.80p -2.35%