(ShareCast News) - The FTSE 250 index was by late on Tuesday afternoon giving up some of the gains made late the day before, as commodities-focused stocks were hit by China's devaluation and corporate news received mixed reviews.By 1540 BST the index was down 0.47% at 17,677.29 points, with Vedanta Resources losing most of the ground that it had gained on Monday.Other mid-cap basic resources hit as the dollar appreciated 1.8% against China's yuan included copper producer Kaz Minerals, Premier Oil and platinum miner Lonmin.Although its shares gained initially, Just Retirement was firmly in the red later in the day after agreeing a 60-40 merger in its favour with annuities rival Partnership Assurance to create a new £1.7bn company.Woodford Patient Capital Trust, one of the funds run by star fund manager Neil Woodford, was lower despite after publishing first half-year results since listing in April this year, with the shares trading at an 11% premium to net assets value per share. But the shares were hit by the announcement of a tap issuance programme to satisfy excess demand in the secondary market, but the new shares issued will be done so at a premium to NAV and should therefore be accretive to existing shareholders.Building materials group SIG fell despite posting a rise in first-half pre-tax profit and raising its interim dividend. The company said its margins were under pressure, with variable trading conditions in Europe and a significant weakening of the euro which hit revenues.Leading the 250 risers on Tuesday was Synthomer, as the latex maker reported a first-half profit before tax of £51.4m, up 14% from the first half of last year. The company said the performance was strong given significant exchange rate headwinds, and warned its full year result could suffer if conditions continued.Online and catalogue retailer N Brown was lifted despite the release of mixed UK retail sales data from the BRC. Online non-food sales rose by 14.7%, higher than expected, but ladieswear had a disappointing month, though accessories, kidswear and summer footwear enjoyed strong sales.Allied Minds, after being revealed as one of the stocks in the Woodford Patient Capital Trust's top ten holdings, was another big gainer. (4d Pharma and Vernalis, an AIM company, also gained strongly later in the session, though Imperial Innovations was a faller, disproving any Woodford-based stock picking strategies.)FTSE 250 - RisersSynthomer (SYNT) 350.80p +6.40%Allied Minds (ALM) 471.50p +5.88%Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 257.90p +5.65%Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 570.00p +3.92%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,115.00p +3.82%Cineworld Group (CINE) 550.00p +3.38%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 55.05p +2.42%Evraz (EVR) 97.75p +2.20%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 322.00p +2.09%Acacia Mining (ACA) 241.20p +1.99%FTSE 250 - FallersVedanta Resources (VED) 468.00p -4.76%Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 324.60p -4.36%Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 156.70p -3.81% Just Retirement Group (JRG) 191.20p -3.77%Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) 115.50p -3.19%Premier Oil (PMO) 119.50p -3.00%Lonmin (LMI) 43.05p -2.93%SIG (SHI) 196.10p -2.58%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 301.00p -2.40%Ocado Group (OCDO) 374.30p -2.32%
