FTSE 250 movers: Home Retail rises on upgrade

5th Dec 2012 15:34

Shares in Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail raced ahead today after Bank of America Merill Lynch upgraded the stock from 'neutral' to 'buy' and hiked its price target from 110p to 130p. The broker said: "We see Argos as a beneficiary of recent capacity withdrawal in the electricals area and also as we think grocers will now be more focused on improving their performance in food." Public transport firm Stagecoach was wanted after saying that like-for-like revenue grew 5.9% in the half year to October and revenue growth in the second half is expected to be "relatively modest". Meanwhile, mining group Centamin was significantly lower and leading the fallers, with the movement possibly linked to news that Egypt's Vice President, Mahmoud Mekki, has decided that he will push ahead with a referendum on a draft constitution, despite protests scaling up. Strong concerns have been voiced by protesters that the constitution does not offer enough protection for political freedoms. Halfords was down after Bank of America downgraded the stock from buy to neutral. Online gaming firm Bwin.party fell after saying that Jim Ryan, its co-CEO, is to retire from the role in January and return to Canada with his family. FTSE 250 - RisersHome Retail Group (HOME) 122.00p +7.68%Savills (SVS) 470.00p +5.15%Stagecoach Group (SGC) 305.40p +4.73%Diploma (DPLM) 506.50p +3.73%Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 80.20p +3.55%EnQuest (ENQ) 117.00p +3.54%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 228.80p +3.44%Dialight (DIA) 1,095.00p +2.82%Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 590.00p +2.61%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 713.00p +2.59%FTSE 250 - FallersCentamin (DI) (CEY) 51.40p -9.98%Halfords Group (HFD) 323.00p -4.52%Lonmin (LMI) 249.80p -3.59%Britvic (BVIC) 386.80p -3.30%Hiscox Ltd. (HSX) 477.00p -2.19%Debenhams (DEB) 113.10p -2.08%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 106.90p -1.93%De La Rue (DLAR) 952.00p -1.81%Afren (AFR) 131.60p -1.79%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 340.00p -1.73%NR