FTSE 250 movers: Gold miners weigh against rising builders

(ShareCast News) - The FTSE 250 index was in the red late on Monday as a cabal of resources stocks cancelled out gains from housing related companies.Amid general renewed pressure on commodity prices hitting much of the sector, gold miners were the heaviest weight around the neck of the mid-cap index, led by Hochschild Mining, Acacia Mining and Centamin, in line with larger peers on the FTSE 100.A stronger US dollar was seen as a key trigger for this dip down, hitting metals prices across the board, with silver, copper and gold all lower."Gold has fallen foul of a stronger USD as markets re-adjust to a more hawkish Fed outlook," said analyst Mike van Dulken at Accendo, though noting the Federal Reserve was on balance still dovish actually, just a little less so than before."The USD Basket has made a bounce off rising support in a rising channel, which could see further upside continue to weigh on the whole commodity space and of course their miners/drillers," he added.Miner and steel producer Evraz was among the sector's large fallers. Analysts at Shore Capital wondered if investment company Yellow Dragon, which is meant to be teaming up with Bushveld Minerals (BMN) to buy Evraz's Vametco, had got "cold feet or money troubles" after selling its entire 50m holding of BMN shares earlier this month.Leading the way was Debenhams as it continues to make a strong comeback from the losses suffered post Brexit, with it being the top riser in retail last week. Also on Monday, news emerged that its Irish business has been saved after the High Court approved a restructuring programme that will safeguard 1,330 jobs and will mean its Irish subsidiary will exit examinership. "We are very pleased with the overall outcome of securing jobs and keeping open all 11 stores, thereby ensuring that we continue to offer our customers a great selection of products and brands," said Debenhams Ireland director John Bebbington. "Our priorities are now to implement the restructuring plan to ensure Debenhams' long term sustainable future in Ireland. To that end, an investment plan for the business has commenced in addition to a funding facility that will provide support to the business for the next three years."Also well represented among the leaderboard across the FTSE 350 were housebuilding stocks, including Crest Nicholson, Galliford Try, Redrow, Bellway and Countryside.They were perhaps lifted by a report from Countrywide that predicted that UK house prices will fall by 1% next year on Brexit uncertainty but recover with a 2% increase in 2018.Equally, the mid-cap builders were mirroring moves among the larger peers, with buying interest thought to be rising in Persimmon shares ahead of Tuesday's trading update.Analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets offered this further suggestion on the sector: "Some of the more bearish sentiment surrounding the UK economy and the housing market appears to be dissipating as a host of economic forecasts dial back their more bearish outlooks for the UK economy, with the ratings agency Moody's the latest to upgrade their outlook for the UK in the wake of last week's economic data."Market MoversFTSE 100 (UKX) 6,817.36 -0.61%FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,813.66 -0.34%techMARK (TASX) 3,503.34 -0.28%FTSE 250 - RisersDebenhams (DEB) 62.10p 3.76%Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 455.40p 3.57%Ocado Group (OCDO) 289.00p 3.18%Greencore Group (GNC) 352.30p 2.92%Galliford Try (GFRD) 1,077.00p 2.87%Redrow (RDW) 354.30p 2.84%William Hill (WMH) 323.20p 2.64%Bellway (BWY) 2,209.00p 2.51%Countryside Properties (CSP) 240.60p 2.47%Ibstock (IBST) 170.20p 2.35%FTSE 250 - FallersHochschild Mining (HOC) 294.80p -5.90%Evraz (EVR) 141.80p -5.66%Acacia Mining (ACA) 571.00p -4.44%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 169.40p -4.40%Cairn Energy (CNE) 194.90p -3.90%Vedanta Resources (VED) 530.50p -3.55%Diploma (DPLM) 855.50p -3.17%Tullow Oil (TLW) 227.10p -2.78%Clarkson (CKN) 2,202.00p -2.78%Softcat (SCT) 327.40p -2.68%