FTSE 250 movers: CYBG boosted by upgrade; gold miners slip
London's FTSE 250 was up 0.8% at 18,969.55 in afternoon trade on Monday amid growing central bank stimulus hopes.
Premier Oil and Cairn Energy gained ground as oil prices rose following a drone attack on a Saudi oil facility over the weekend.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "A drone attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on a Saudi oilfield lifted prices, and highlighted that there are still plenty of tensions in the region that threaten to disrupt supplies. However concerns about global growth and the ongoing trade war are the main drivers on pricing.
"OPEC has cut its demand growth outlook by 40k barrels a day to 1.1m bpd. Speculators have increased their net long positions a touch. Prices on both Brent and WTI are still in the downtrend from the April peak with lower highs on every drive north."
Elsewhere, CYBG was up after UBS upgraded its rating on the shares to 'buy' from 'neutral', arguing that net interest margin is set to rise even in the current rates environment.
UBS noted that CYBG shares are down around 30% since the company's trading update at the end of July, underperforming the sector by about 20% and UK banks by 15%.
Over the same period, consensus earnings per share has fallen 16%, suggesting a 17% de-rating, with one-year forward consensus price-to-earnings falling to 5.3x and P/E discount to the sector and UK banks widening to 31% from 17% and 16% from 1%, respectively.
"This suggests that the sharp fall isn’t entirely explained by Brexit and we think the market expects further EPS cuts on expectations that net interest margin will continue to shrink in 2020. "We see this as unlikely and model a rising NIM from 2020e, with EPS rising from 2021e on expanding NIM and cost savings."
Hochschild Mining was in the red, along with Centamin, as gold prices slipped back.
FTSE 250 - Risers
Premier Oil (PMO) 70.68p 5.37%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,555.00p 4.93%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 220.90p 4.64%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 240.20p 4.53%
Funding Circle Holdings (FCH) 122.28p 4.51%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 700.25p 4.44%
Future (FUTR) 1,046.00p 4.18%
CYBG (CYBG) 147.52p 4.15%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 286.20p 4.07%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 161.90p 3.92%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 97.10p -5.36%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 199.10p -5.10%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 414.60p -4.58%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 447.20p -3.62%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 382.10p -3.39%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 134.40p -3.10%
Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) 43.06p -2.46%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 229.77p -2.23%
Avast (AVST) 361.20p -2.11%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 753.00p -1.83%