Rising into the top spot was Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk, after it saw production over the whole of 2011 up by almost a quarter from 2010's levels. The firm was given an extra lift by rising metals prices.

Sector peer Lonmin, the South African platinum producer, was rising in line with the sector despite seeing the total amount of tonnes mined in the final three months of 2011 fall by 3.7% compared to the same period of 2010.

Shares in budget airline easyJet leapt after the firm reported a 16.7% increase in revenue for the quarter ended 31 December, helped by higher seat prices and the absence of disruptive winter weather.

Domino Printing Services rose on news that its business partner NewMarket Impressions has entered into an agreement with a major US-based supermarket chain.

Meanwhile, financial software provider Misys hit the bottom spot after it swung to a pre-tax loss of £3.6m in the first half, down from a profit of £18.8m the year before. "Misys has had a tough first half and left itself too much to do in H2. We anticipate downgrades today of around 10%," according to Peel Hunt analyst Paul Morland.

3i Group, an international private equity firm, also took a hit after saying it earnings performance in some of its portfolio has softened over the three month period to December 31st. The company blamed this on the ongoing deterioration in the macroeconomic outlook and market uncertainty.


FTSE 250 - Risers
Petropavlovsk (POG) 779.00p +11.84%
AZ Electronic Materials SA (DI) (AZEM) 306.40p +9.31%
easyJet (EZJ) 439.50p +8.84%
Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 613.50p +7.63%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 353.60p +7.12%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 501.00p +6.44%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 243.70p +6.42%
Lonmin (LMI) 1,110.00p +6.42%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 302.70p +6.21%
Mondi (MNDI) 533.00p +6.18%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Misys (MSY) 307.30p -5.59%
PayPoint (PAY) 558.00p -4.62%
3i Group (III) 181.30p -2.00%
Mitie Group (MTO) 268.00p -0.92%
Homeserve (HSV) 296.50p -0.80%
WH Smith (SMWH) 550.00p -0.72%
Lancashire Holdings (LRE) 710.00p -0.56%
Dignity (DTY) 813.00p -0.49%
Hiscox Ltd. (HSX) 389.20p -0.31%
BBA Aviation (BBA) 190.40p -0.31%

NR

Related share prices
3i Group (III) share price
Misys (MSY) share price
Lonmin (LMI) share price
Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) share price
easyJet (EZJ) share price
Petropavlovsk (POG) share price