FTSE 250 movers: Charter snubs Melrose's sweetened bid

15th Jul 2011 15:52

Upbeat earnings data helped boost investor sentiment, at a time when the financial markets were jittery over the outcome of the European banking stress test but the FTSE 250 fluctuated amid volatile trading and was largely in the red. Retailers and leisure companies dragged the index lower. Premier Foods and Betfair Group were among the top losers on the index. However, some stocks bucked the market trend and provided solace to investors. Publishing, events and electronic information group Euromoney Institutional Investor said it has been trading in line with management expectations since its interim results were announced on 19 May. Shares of the company jumped 11%, offsetting some of the larger market losses.Similarly, rail and bus company FirstGroup quietly enjoyed the rise in petrol prices as it saw travellers flocking to use its rail services. The group saw 8.5% year-on-year (yoy) like-for-like (lfl) growth in passenger revenues in its UK rail business in the second quarter of 2011, while its UK bus business saw lfl revenue growth of 0.7% yoy, which it said reflected continued steady progress against a tough regional economic backdrop.Meanwhile, the battle might soon heat up for British Engineering firm Charter International after it rejected the revised bid from Melrose, which valued the company at £1.4bn, saying the bid undervalued the company.FTSE 250 - RisersEuromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 663.00p +11.43%FirstGroup (FGP) 353.60p +7.22%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,989.00p +5.39%Exillon Energy (EXI) 446.30p +3.79%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 60.05p +3.09%PZ Cussons (PZC) 360.90p +2.82%Provident Financial (PFG) 1,016.00p +2.68%National Express Group (NEX) 248.20p +2.56%St James's Place (STJ) 364.40p +2.13%Carpetright (CPR) 592.50p +2.07%FTSE 250 - FallersPremier Foods (PFD) 20.23p -6.60%Home Retail Group (HOME) 142.30p -6.20%Betfair Group (BET) 644.00p -5.57%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 853.00p -3.94%AZ Electronic Materials SA (WI) (AZEM) 271.60p -3.76%Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,621.00p -3.63%Ashtead Group (AHT) 164.60p -3.52%Mondi (MNDI) 623.50p -3.41%Chemring Group (CHG) 567.00p -3.32%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 45.36p -3.18%