FTSE 250 movers: Hochschild Mining rebounds strongly as brokers lift targets

22nd Aug 2013 14:15

Precious metals producer Hochschild Mining was making gains on Thursday, rebounding strongly after disappointing the market on Wednesday by suspending its interim dividend as falling metals prices hit revenues and profits. Westhouse Securities, JPMorgan Cazenove and RBC Capital Markets all upgraded their target prices for the stock today with the latter citing the company's cost savings programme which should have a positive impact going into the second half.A host of other miners were also in demand as manufacturing activity in China unexpectedly showed growth in August. EVRAZ and Ferrexpo were among the best performers. Newsagent chain WH Smith was on shopping lists after saying it expects full-year results to be in line with market expectations as it continues focus on tight cost control and improving margins. Retailers Home Retail and Halfords were also higher.Carillion, the building and support services firm, was the worst performer of the day despite reporting a 13% increase in pre-tax profits as revenues fell 9% in the first half. The decline was mainly due to the planned rescaling of the UK construction business.Premier Oil was also a heavy faller after record half-year financials still came up short of estimates. The company said that its full-year production target of 63,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day depends on the performance of its Huntington field in the second half.FTSE 250 - RisersHochschild Mining (HOC) 238.00p +6.01%Home Retail Group (HOME) 153.20p +5.58%Evraz (EVR) 123.00p +5.40%Man Group (EMG) 85.40p +4.79%IP Group (IPO) 138.90p +4.12%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 339.70p +3.95%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 182.60p +3.57%Halfords Group (HFD) 379.00p +3.05%Smith (DS) (SMDS) 259.10p +2.94%Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 341.30p +2.80%FTSE 250 - FallersCarillion (CLLN) 287.30p -3.36%Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,886.00p -2.73%Premier Oil (PMO) 348.00p -2.52%NMC Health (NMC) 352.00p -1.95%Cairn Energy (CNE) 269.70p -1.14%Beazley (BEZ) 206.30p -1.10%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 268.90p -0.99%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 125.40p -0.95%COLT Group SA (COLT) 99.85p -0.94%Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 532.00p -0.93%BC