Stock analysis posts tagged "FTSE 250" from Openbook.

Brent crude pushed above $100 a barrel on Wednesday and the FTSE 100 fell 1.38%, its worst session of the week so far. Victrex, Energean and Antofagasta rose, while Computacenter reversed a results-day rally.

Dunelm held FY26 profit at 211.0m pounds and guided FY27 broadly flat after a hot spell hit trading. Its 100m cost plan pays out in FY29, not now.

Computacenter guided 2026 adjusted profit to at least 380m pounds, 11% above consensus, on a record 9.3bn backlog. The shares moved only 4%.

London's two-session week was dominated by a global bond rout: 10-year gilt yields hit their highest since June 2008 and the FTSE 250 fell to a one-month low, even as three UK companies agreed takeovers in a single day.

Five sessions, a six-day winning streak, a 0.8% slump and a Friday rebound left the FTSE 100 up 1.29 points on the week. Little of it was British news.

The FTSE 100 spent Monday to Wednesday inching towards 10,900 before easing back, while a near-£10bn government affordable-homes allocation gave Vistry its best day since 2020 and a third straight fall in Brent weighed on BP and Shell.

The FTSE 250 record high is a supply signal, not a recovery signal. Mid-cap Britain is being bought and delisted faster than it is being replaced, and the index rises as the market shrinks.

The FTSE 100 ended Monday to Wednesday all but flat as Brent near $92 lifted BP and Shell, while UK inflation rose to 2.9% and the FTSE 250 slipped 0.9%. Kainos and Made Tech surged on guidance upgrades; Smith & Nephew fell as its finance chief quit.

London's blue chips slipped in all three sessions from Monday to Wednesday as Brent crude neared $90 a barrel, with Imperial Brands, Spirax and Legal & General among the fallers while Balfour Beatty hit a record high.

AstraZeneca fell 9% on a reported Bristol Myers Squibb merger approach, Prologis agreed a £14bn deal for SEGRO, and a slide in oil reshaped London's week as the FTSE 250 set back-to-back record closes.