Lloyds Share News (LLOY)

Shares in Lloyds Banking Group surged this morning despite the firm reporting a £3.9bn loss for the first nine months of 2011.Much of the loss - £3.2bn - was down to the bank setting money aside for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance, but its total income for the period also fell 15% to £15.3bn, due to a decline in levels of business.On top of this, Lloyds offered a downbeat forecast for the UK economic outlook, saying it expected UK interest rates to stay lower for longer, which in turn would have an impact on its ability to hit income targets in 2014.Also rising higher, insurance giant Prudential reported strong profits in the third quarter, driven by expansion of new business in Asia.The firm said it had seen its highest ever third quarter of new business sales in Asia, pushing its shares up 2% in early trading.Following suit, mobile phone network colossus Vodafone saw profit before tax ease 2.8% to £6.64bn in the six months ended September 30th from £8.24bn the year before, on revenue that rose 4.1% to £23.5bn from £22.6bn last year. Miners were also doing their bit to pull the footsie higher, with Vedanta, Kazakhyms and Xstrata all heading higher. Meanwhile, bad news sent shares in Anglo-Swedish drugs titan AstraZeneca lower, after the firm, along with its US partner Targacept, failed to meet its initial target for an anti-depressant product it is currently developing. The product, known as as TC-5214, is intended to be used as an adjunct therapy to an anti-depressant in patients with major depressive disorder, who do not respond adequately to initial antidepressant treatment. Despite reporting strong profits for the third quarter, driven by revenues in the US and China, shares in Intercontinental Hotels were also heading lower. FTSE 100 - RisersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 29.74p +7.40%Man Group (EMG) 147.00p +4.03%IMI (IMI) 834.00p +3.80%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,402.00p +3.62%Prudential (PRU) 639.50p +3.48%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,294.00p +3.44%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,463.00p +3.17%Vodafone Group (VOD) 178.05p +3.01%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 963.00p +2.99%Xstrata (XTA) 1,030.50p +2.74%FTSE 100 - FallersAstraZeneca (AZN) 2,849.50p -3.94%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,060.00p -3.20%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 669.00p -1.47%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,192.00p -1.16%United Utilities Group (UU.) 618.50p -0.88%International Power (IPR) 332.80p -0.75%National Grid (NG.) 619.50p -0.48%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,430.00p -0.34%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,911.00p -0.21%Rexam (REX) 336.60p -0.06%NR