Spectris saw a robust performance in the final quarter of its financial year and while like-for-like (LFL) sales growth had slowed from the first half, analysts said that this was as expected. The instrumentation and controls company said that reported sales during the last quarter were up 12 per cent.

William Hill was also on the rise after Panmure reiterated its buy rating on the stock along with its 350p target price, saying its third quarter results were strong and in line with expectations, with the group remaining confident in its expectations for the full-year.

House-builder Redrow was a big faller after Chairman Steven Morgan last night ditched his plan to buy the company, bringing seven weeks of takeover talks to an end after falling four of Takeover Panel regulations.

Oil company Premier Oil was also a big faller. The firm is inviting holders of its guaranteed convertible bonds due 2014 to trade them in for similar bonds due in 2018. The new bonds will have a conversion price of $7.00 and a coupon (interest rate) of 2.5%. This compares with the existing convertible bonds, which have a conversion price of $6.69 and a coupon of 2.875%.

Drax, which runs a coal-fired power station in North Yorkshire, was hit by HSBC's decision to downgrade it to 'neutral', and cut its target from 600p to 580p.


FTSE 250 - Risers
Spectris (SXS) 1,777.00p +11.48%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,325.00p +5.75%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 187.30p +4.81%
Bumi (BUMI) 255.90p +4.41%
William Hill (WMH) 356.70p +3.87%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 107.80p +3.65%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 572.00p +3.34%
New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 278.20p +3.04%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 116.80p +3.00%
Playtech Ltd. (PTEC) 404.40p +2.72%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 195.80p -6.81%
Redrow (RDW) 154.50p -4.92%
Ted Baker (TED) 945.00p -3.96%
Premier Oil (PMO) 367.30p -3.80%
Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 137.00p -3.32%
Ruspetro (RPO) 106.40p -3.27%
Lonmin (LMI) 499.00p -3.20%
Man Group (EMG) 80.90p -3.00%
Drax Group (DRX) 535.00p -2.73%
Pace (PIC) 163.80p -2.50%

NR

Related share prices
Spectris (SXS) share price
Redrow (RDW) share price
Premier Oil (PMO) share price
William Hill (WMH) share price
Drax Group (DRX) share price