Lloyds Share News (LLOY)

Heavy selling pressure was affecting indices across Europe and America on Thursday after the Federal Reserve warned that it would begin to taper its stimulus programme this year, meanwhile gloomy figures from China continue to point to a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. As is often the case in a broad market sell-off, mining stocks bore the brunt of the slump in risk appetite in London, tracking large declines in commodity prices.Precious metal peers Polymetal, Randgold and Fresnillo were among the worst performing after gold prices dropped as much as 4.8% to $1,286.20 an ounce, its lowest level since September 2010. Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were also firmly lower.Market volatility continues to affect Aberdeen Asset Management, another heavy faller today, while high-yielding insurance peers Prudential and Old Mutual dropped as bond yields across the globe surged.Melrose was lower despite the company announcing the disposal of motor manufacturing division Marelli Motori for £181m, well ahead of Investec's £150m estimate.Lloyds was among the handful of stocks on the blue-chip index registering gains after saying that it is making "significant progress in further strengthening its capital position" without the need to fundraise. This came after the Prudential Regulation Authority found that Lloyds accounted for £8.6bn of the £27.1bn-pound capital shortfall in the UK banking sector by the end of 2012. Lloyds was also in the news after George Osborne's Mansion House speech last night in which he said he was "actively considering options" to sell the government's 39% stake in the lender.FTSE 100 - RisersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 62.24p +0.78%Carnival (CCL) 2,235.00p +0.22%Compass Group (CPG) 839.50p +0.06%FTSE 100 - FallersPolymetal International (POLY) 565.50p -7.97%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 369.10p -7.72%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,339.00p -6.57%Fresnillo (FRES) 993.00p -4.98%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,675.50p -4.46%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,735.00p -4.25%IMI (IMI) 1,243.00p -4.02%Melrose Industries (MRO) 237.50p -3.85%Prudential (PRU) 1,028.00p -3.75%Old Mutual (OML) 179.40p -3.65%