Legal & General Share News (LGEN)

The FTSE 100 was pulling back on Friday morning after four consecutive days of gains as investors turned cautious ahead of a meeting of Eurozone finance ministers in Dublin.Results due out from US banking giants JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo later today were also making markets nervous, with stock futures pointing to a weak start when the opening bell rings on Wall Street in the coming hours.Investors cautious ahead of EurogroupIt was revealed yesterday in a draft of the updated rescue plan for Cyprus that the country will need an extra €6.0bn for a bailout, taking the total aid package to €23bn."This could be a problem given that Cyprus will have to find the extra €6.0bn itself in the form of spending cuts, tax rises and probably even deeper haircuts on depositors in the restructured banks," said Senior Market Analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets."In addition the Cypriot government has been asked to sell off over half of its gold reserves to help raise some of the money, a fact that was immediately met with consternation and a denial by the Bank of Cyprus, and could also run into legal obstacles under EU law."Rescue programmes in Ireland and Portugal are also likely to be hot topics at the Eurogroup meeting in Dublin. One issue not on the agenda is Slovenia's banking sector, according to Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem.Economic data in the spotlightFigures from the UK construction industry this morning showed that output remained week. Construction output in February was 5.5% higher than in January but still 7.0% lower than a year ago, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. The non-seasonally adjusted figures also showed the volume of construction output decreased by 8.9% year-on-year in the three months to February.Weighing on sentiment further this morning was a leaked report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which showed that the Fund had cut growth forecasts for the global economy. The leaked report, which is not due until next week, showed that global growth estimates for 2013 were also revised down to 3.4%, compared to the 3.5% original estimate. US retail sales data will be in focus this afternoon with consensus estimates pointing to a flat reading in March from the month before when sales rose 1.1%. The producer price index and University of Michigan consumer confidence survey are also due to be released later on in the States. FTSE 100: Heavyweights hit by broker downgradesA series of ratings downgrades were weighing on the share prices of a number of Footsie constituents this morning.A day after a well-received fourth-quarter trading update, High Street giant M&S was under pressure after Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded its rating to 'sell'.HSBC was lower after Liberum Capital lowered its recommendation on the stock to 'hold', while Reed Elsevier was hit by a Goldman Sachs downgrade to 'neutral'.Legal & General and BAE Systems were also under the weather this morning after JPMorgan Cazenove lowered its ratings on both stocks to 'underweight'. In contrast, Resolution was being boosted higher after the same broker upped its view to 'neutral'.Comments from UBS were also prompting big moves in the chemicals sector with Johnson Matthey lifted to 'buy' and Croda cut to 'sell'.Company news was thin on the ground this morning, though Aggreko edged higher after maintained its full-year guidance. The temporary power and temperature control firm said that underlying revenues rose 8.0% in the first quarter.Mining group Rio Tinto was trading lower after saying that it has suspended operations at its Bingham Canyon Mine after a slide occurred on the north eastern wall of the project.FTSE 100 - RisersJohnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,420.00p +2.93%Aggreko (AGK) 1,795.00p +1.93%Standard Life (SL.) 352.10p +1.59%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,991.00p +1.48%Hammerson (HMSO) 518.00p +1.47%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 274.90p +1.40%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,028.00p +1.28%British Land Co (BLND) 587.00p +1.12%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,576.00p +0.67%United Utilities Group (UU.) 723.50p +0.56%FTSE 100 - FallersCroda International (CRDA) 2,618.00p -3.54%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 251.60p -2.14%CRH (CRH) 1,402.00p -1.96%Reed Elsevier (REL) 753.50p -1.95%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 168.30p -1.92%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,625.00p -1.78%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 247.40p -1.59%Prudential (PRU) 1,064.00p -1.57%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,298.00p -1.52%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,095.00p -1.43%FTSE 250 - RisersDixons Retail (DXNS) 34.50p +3.92%United Drug (UDG) 299.00p +2.89%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,635.00p +2.57%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 409.90p +2.22%Supergroup (SGP) 690.00p +2.22%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 376.70p +2.09%Victrex (VCT) 1,616.00p +1.89%RPS Group (RPS) 259.90p +1.80%Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 520.50p +1.66%Derwent London (DLN) 2,272.00p +1.66%FTSE 250 - FallersFerrexpo (FXPO) 183.50p -5.02%Ocado Group (OCDO) 150.00p -3.16%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 424.60p -2.68%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 44.15p -2.67%Kentz Corporation Ltd. (KENZ) 413.70p -2.64%Morgan Advance Materials (MGAM) 274.30p -2.59%Petropavlovsk (POG) 192.20p -2.49%Essar Energy (ESSR) 141.00p -2.15%Rentokil Initial (RTO) 98.30p -2.09%Halfords Group (HFD) 327.60p -2.06%BC