Legal & General Share News (LGEN)

Investec has upgraded its rating for Lloyds Banking Group from 'hold' to 'buy', telling investors that "it is safe to go back in the water", prompting a strong rise in the share price."After a 10% 10-week pull-back, we again see reasonable value for a low-risk stock. Upgrade to 'buy'," the broker said. The Royal Bank of Scotland is engaged in talks to sell its US retail banking branch, RBS Citizens, to Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal which cited people familiar with the situation. BG Group was another strong riser as sentiment recovered somewhat after last week's announcement that 300 jobs at its Head Office were at risk following the group's decision to initiate a redundancy programme. The group was today given a lift by BNP Paribas, which upped its rating on the stock to 'outperform'. The broker gave Glencore Xstrara the same rating prompting decent gains in the natural resources company's share price. It was also rising after its partner Caracal Energy announced the loading of the first shipment of Badila oil for export at the Kribi sea terminal offshore Cameroon.Supermarket chains Tesco and Morrison put in a decent performance following recent heavy declines. Legal & General was likewise making up ground recently lost - the stock was last week a major faller following changes announced in the Chancellor's latest Budget relating to the annuity market. Hargreaves Lansdown extended last week's losses after its Chief Executive revealed that the group is considering lowering its charges later in 2014. The potential plans come after the group experienced a strong increase in the level of activity seen across its platform sector. "We will look at all charges as we want to be competitive," he said in an interview with Investment Week. "There are one or two areas in particular we are interested in, and our charges are not locked in."Energy giant SSE fell in line with the wider sector which declined on rumours the UK government is considering forcing companies to split up in order to improve competition. British American Tobacco declined after Credit Suisse downgraded its rating on the stock from to 'neutral', while Lloyds was helped higher by an upgraded to 'buy' at Investec.FTSE 100 - RisersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 78.40p +1.33%BG Group (BG.) 1,075.00p +1.22%Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 306.75p +1.04%Mondi (MNDI) 1,045.00p +0.97%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 213.20p +0.95%Sage Group (SGE) 427.80p +0.80%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 207.60p +0.78%Tesco (TSCO) 293.15p +0.77%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 365.40p +0.58%Diageo (DGE) 1,809.50p +0.53%FTSE 100 - FallersHargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,373.00p -2.90%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,694.00p -2.84%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 408.70p -2.83%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,289.00p -2.57%SSE (SSE) 1,473.00p -2.45%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 394.50p -2.21%Vodafone Group (VOD) 222.75p -1.96%G4S (GFS) 234.50p -1.92%Fresnillo (FRES) 868.00p -1.92%Wolseley (WOS) 3,328.00p -1.89%NR