FTSE 250 movers: Housebuilders rise after mortgage-approval data

25th Jun 2013 15:09

House builders and construction stocks were performing well on Tuesday after the British Bankers' Association revealed that mortgage approvals for house purchase hit a 16-month high in May of 36,102. This was up from a revised 32,952 the month before, well ahead of the 33,200 consensus forecast and up 11 per cent year on year. Ashtead, Balfour Beatty and Barratt Developments were among the best performers this afternoon.Industrial coding, printing and marking technology group Domino Printing was lower after swinging into a pre-tax loss for the half year as difficult trading conditions across most of Europe persisted.Kazakhmys was rebounding after some heavy falls the day before. The company yesterday recommended shareholders to vote in favour of an offer for its 26% stake in ENRC, saying that it is the best option for shareholders despite the price being lower than hoped.Hotel group Millenium & Copthorne was in the red after Morgan Stanley cut its recommendation for the shares from 'overweight' to 'equal weight'. The broker said that it sees downside risks to forecasts, "and with Asian hotels and property under pressure, we think there could be a better entry point".FTSE 250 - RisersAshtead Group (AHT) 632.00p +5.69%Balfour Beatty (BBY) 232.60p +5.49%Close Brothers Group (CBG) 956.00p +5.29%International Personal Finance (IPF) 485.70p +4.90%Elementis (ELM) 220.10p +4.71%Inchcape (INCH) 478.40p +4.32%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 25.99p +4.08%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 293.30p +3.97%Investec (INVP) 401.20p +3.75%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 39.45p +3.54%FTSE 250 - FallersRenishaw (RSW) 1,525.00p -3.48%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 172.60p -3.41%Micro Focus International (MCRO) 671.00p -2.54%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 583.50p -2.42%Perform Group (PER) 558.00p -2.11%Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 531.00p -1.85%Drax Group (DRX) 529.00p -1.67%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,235.00p -1.59%Workspace Group (WKP) 393.50p -1.53%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 110.60p -1.51%