Lloyds Share News (LLOY)

Insurance and banking stocks were performing well on Wednesday afternoon after Credit Suisse upgraded its ratings on both sectors this morning.Lloyds was up 4% after the Swiss broker raised its view on European banks to 'benchmark' from 'small underweight', saying that the stock looks "abnormally cheap" versus its peers. Banking groups RBS, Standard Chartered and Barclays were also in demand.Car insurer Admiral was also up around 4% after Credit Suisse raised the insurance sector from 'benchmark' to 'overweight'. However, sector peers British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco were lower after the same broker downgraded the tobacco sector from 'benchmark' to 'underweight'.Airline group IAG was flying high on news that its subsidiary British Airways is set to launch a new route to the Chinese city of Chengdu.Building materials firm CRH was also gaining after a broker upgrade. Deutsche Bank raised its recommendation for the stock to 'buy' in spite of its still-subdued performance in European markets. "After having been severely penalised by its sizeable developed market exposure in 2012, our economic recovery expectations combined with high private construction exposure, high operating leverage and additional cost savings lead us to believe that the stock should re-rate strongly in 2013," analysts said. Distribution and outsourcing firm Bunzl fell sharply after buying McCordick Glove & Safety based near Toronto, Canada, and Atlas Health Care in Adelaide, Australia. The news comes as the group said that group revenue growth in 2012 is expected to be 6% at constant exchange rates. United Utilities was in the red after going ex-dividend, along with Burberry.FTSE 100 - RisersAdmiral Group (ADM) 1,197.00p +4.36%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 188.30p +4.21%CRH (CRH) 1,216.00p +4.20%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 49.06p +4.08%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,567.00p +3.50%Wolseley (WOS) 2,879.00p +2.97%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 314.10p +2.95%Old Mutual (OML) 179.70p +2.63%Evraz (EVR) 278.30p +2.35%Wood Group (John) (WG.) 744.50p +2.20%FTSE 100 - FallersBunzl (BNZL) 1,023.00p -4.03%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,106.50p -2.19%United Utilities Group (UU.) 686.00p -1.93%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,516.50p -1.44%BAE Systems (BA.) 341.30p -1.36%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,920.00p -1.13%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,391.00p -1.12%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,569.00p -0.88%GKN (GKN) 226.70p -0.87%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,363.00p -0.66%BC