FTSE 250 movers: Savills climbs on reports of partnership deal

10th Mar 2014 13:45

Savills rose on the news the real estate advisor had agreed a new partnership with McGuire Real Estate, the San Francisco-based real estate brokerage.Water regulators have given a boost to Pennon Group, pushing the stock firmly higher after saying its regulated water utility, South West Water, has qualified for a fast-track passage through its price review for the next regulatory period. Ofwat said South West Water had pre-qualified for "enhanced" status due to the high quality of their business plans.Senior rose after the manufacturer confirmed that it has entered into an agreement to buy Malaysian based UPECA Technologies for £75.5m in cash. The acquisition of UPECA Technologies, which provides manufacturing services for high precision metal machining, is expected to complete towards the end of March. The news prompted Investec to move its target price from 290p to 300p, upgrading from 'reduce' to 'hold'. Meanwhile, Indian-focused oil major Essar Energy was lower after it was forced to quash claims that it plans to close a refinery in the UK amid cut-throat competition from US rivals. Essar issued a statement denying that it was planning to shut its Stanlow refinery in Cheshire.A number of mining stocks were in the red after a surprise trade deficit in China and downward revisions to growth estimates in Japan dampened the demand outlook for metals. Kenmare Resources and Evraz were both big fallers in today's session. Numis Securities has downgraded house builder Taylor Wimpey from 'add' to 'hold' but has lifted its estimates after the company's 2013 results and cash return revealed last month. FTSE 250 - RisersSavills (SVS) 620.50p +3.68%Partnership Assurance Group (PA.) 343.70p +3.31%Senior (SNR) 298.40p +3.00%Pace (PIC) 457.80p +2.81%Pennon Group (PNN) 756.50p +2.79%Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 591.00p +2.52%Beazley (BEZ) 264.20p +2.36%Computacenter (CCC) 704.50p +2.25%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 305.10p +2.18%Fenner (FENR) 449.70p +2.13%FTSE 250 - FallersImagination Technologies Group (IMG) 166.30p -3.93%Greencore Group (GNC) 291.20p -3.26%Essar Energy (ESSR) 69.95p -3.18%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 15.50p -3.12%Evraz (EVR) 61.70p -3.06%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 435.10p -2.94%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 117.30p -2.90%CSR (CSR) 750.50p -2.79%Ocado Group (OCDO) 547.00p -2.23%Keller Group (KLR) 1,051.00p -2.23%NR