South Africa-focused platinum miner Lonmin rose strongly on Thursday on reports that it has reached a 'peace accord' with its striking miners following a wave of protests over the last few weeks. 



The mining sector as a whole was firmly higher today on hopes over the global economy after the European Central Bank (ECB) confirmed rumours that it would embark on a bond-buying programme to help bring down bond yields in peripheral nations. Hochschild Mining, Centamin and Aquarius Platinum were all registering decent gains in afternoon trade.

AG Barr was in demand after Societe Generale upgraded the shares to 'hold' and lifted its target price from 370p to 440p, one day after the group announced it is in discussions about an all-share merger with soft drinks peer Britvic.

The latter was in the red today after both Societe and Bank of America Merrill Lynch cut their recommendations on the stock.

Electrical retailer Dixons was higher after saying it made an "encouraging" start to the year with decent growth in the UK, Ireland and Northern Europe, though trading in Southern Europe continues to be tough. Seymour Pierce raised its rating on the stock today to 'buy', saying that it was "reassured by this trading update that underlying momentum is set to continue within its two core businesses driven by both market consolidation and plenty of innovation".

easyJet gained after reporting that it carried 6% more passengers in August. Yesterday the firm also announced that it would introduce allocated seating in its planes.


FTSE 250 - Risers
Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 169.90p +8.84%
Hays (HAS) 73.90p +7.73%
Lonmin (LMI) 569.00p +7.46%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 480.40p +6.71%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 452.50p +5.58%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 81.85p +5.21%
Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 36.23p +5.01%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 64.25p +4.90%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,077.00p +4.56%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 236.00p +4.56%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Britvic (BVIC) 365.20p -1.27%
Bumi (BUMI) 265.70p -1.12%
PayPoint (PAY) 702.00p -0.78%
Ruspetro (RPO) 122.00p -0.73%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,995.00p -0.63%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 656.00p -0.61%
Herald Inv Trust (HRI) 493.00p -0.52%
Rank Group (RNK) 129.90p -0.46%
Beazley (BEZ) 168.60p -0.41%
Ted Baker (TED) 970.00p -0.41%

BC

Related share prices
Lonmin (LMI) share price
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) share price
easyJet (EZJ) share price
Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) share price
Centamin (DI) (CEY) share price
Britvic (BVIC) share price
Hochschild Mining (HOC) share price
Dixons Retail (DXNS) share price