HOPES that next month’s trading update by easyJet may spark strong share-price gains for the low-cost airline gave its stock the best rise in the FTSE 250 yesterday.

EasyJet shares fell to a low earlier this month as analysts trimmed second-half profit forecasts in the wake of May’s interim figures. However, Merrill Lynch turned more bullish yesterday on the view that revenues during the second half could come in ahead of its estimate. Although the US broker prefers the traditional carriers — which it says are more highly geared to the forces that drive easyJet’s shares — it thinks that an expected trading update from the budget airline on July 22 may prompt a bout of outperformance in the shares.

With Merrill altering its advice from “neutral” to “buy”, easyJet jumped 14¾p to 225½p, against a 39.1 point fall in the FTSE 250 to 5004.2.

Royalblue Group fell 48½p to 349p after New York’s Lava Trading filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the developer of share-trading systems. The action, which relates to Lava’s patent on the concept of displaying prices from more than one electronic trading network on a single screen, was described by Royalblue as “without merit” after the close.

An after-hours announcement by the FTSE equity indices committee came too late to aid Randgold Resources, a Jersey-registered goldminer that recently switched broker from HSBC to Evolution Beeson Gregory. After redenomination of Randgold’s share capital from dollars to sterling, the index compiler has decided the miner is eligible for inclusion in its UK indices at the September quarterly review. Given that Randgold has a market value of £300 million, it is set to go straight into the FTSE all-share index, and possibly the FTSE 250, creating strong demand from tracker funds. Randgold — focused on Mali — remained at £10.87½.

Forth Ports stayed at 890p ahead of first-half pre-close briefings this week. Alastair Gunn, of Arbuthnot Securities — who yesterday urged clients to switch into Mersey Docks — believes Forth is set to announce its largest investment at the Port of Tilbury, possibly of up to £35 million, which is likely to entail building a new operating facility for a client.

Britannic fell 6½p to 252p after Smith Barney cut its price target from 275p to 185p.

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