Legal & General Share News (LGEN)

Renewed concerns about the Eurozone were weighing on markets on Friday morning with the FTSE 100 pulling back after four consecutive days of gains ahead of a meeting of European finance ministers later today.It 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.US retail sales data will also be in focus today 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. Heavyweights hit by broker downgradesA series of ratings downgrades were weighing on the share prices of a number of Footsie constituents this morning.High Street giant M&S was under pressure early on following its well-received fourth-quarter trading update yesterday which came in better than expectations. Nevertheless, the stock was down this morning 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 contest, Resolution was being boosted higher after the same broker upped its view to 'neutral'.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.Miners on the whole were performing well with Antofagasta, Vedanta and Fresnillo making gains early on. However, Rio Tinto bucked the trend 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 - RisersAntofagasta (ANTO) 1,045.00p +2.96%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,402.00p +2.17%Hammerson (HMSO) 518.50p +1.57%Aggreko (AGK) 1,785.00p +1.36%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 274.30p +1.18%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 259.60p +0.97%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,981.00p +0.97%Evraz (EVR) 187.30p +0.81%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,301.00p +0.77%British Land Co (BLND) 584.50p +0.69%FTSE 100 - FallersCroda International (CRDA) 2,637.00p -2.84%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 167.50p -2.39%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 246.00p -2.15%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 281.10p -2.12%BAE Systems (BA.) 389.00p -2.09%Aviva (AV.) 301.00p -1.79%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,625.00p -1.78%Prudential (PRU) 1,062.00p -1.76%Barclays (BARC) 298.80p -1.68%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 393.80p -1.65%FTSE 250 - RisersKazakhmys (KAZ) 403.50p +4.45%United Drug (UDG) 299.00p +2.89%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 33.85p +1.96%AZ Electronic Materials SA (DI) (AZEM) 285.30p +1.89%IP Group (IPO) 151.20p +1.82%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 197.80p +1.38%Kier Group (KIE) 1,212.00p +1.34%Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,143.00p +1.33%Redrow (RDW) 202.90p +1.30%BH Global Ltd. GBP Shares (BHGG) 1,210.00p +1.26%FTSE 250 - FallersHome Retail Group (HOME) 150.70p -2.90%Rentokil Initial (RTO) 97.70p -2.69%Invensys (ISYS) 350.00p -2.32%Morgan Advance Materials (MGAM) 276.20p -1.92%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 3,650.00p -1.88%Debenhams (DEB) 82.20p -1.85%Bumi (BUMI) 294.60p -1.80%WH Smith (SMWH) 779.50p -1.76%NMC Health (NMC) 319.20p -1.75%Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 408.90p -1.75%BC