Lloyds Share News (LLOY)

TUI Travel raced ahead of Wednesday afternoon after the firm confirmed that it has been approached by its German parent company, TUI AG, about a merger. "The Independent Directors of TUI Travel have recently received an approach from TUI AG which may or may not result in a combination of the two companies," the company announced. ENRC rose after JP Morgan upped its target price on the stock from 275p to 300p, while its neutral rating was maintained. Information services company Experian rose after it posted a rise in revenue for the three months to December 31st, during which time total revenue from continuing activities increased by seven per cent at constant exchange rates. Part-nationalised lenders RBS and Lloyds were registering losses after Bank of England officials said that they need more capital to shore up their balance sheets. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail has said that RBS may be facing the prospect of a £500m fine over its alleged role in the LIBOR interest-rate rigging scandal. Nomura also said this morning that it prefers Asia-focused banks (HSBC and StanChart) over UK domestic lenders, though it still prefers French and Swiss banks over the UK banking sector in general. Shire rose on the back of positive remarks on the stock out of Credit Suisse, who said that: "Recent management commentary has given credibility to the current consensus forecast for 2013 but we believe performance can be better still (Credit Suisse is 6% ahead of consensus) driven by continued strong growth from the ADHD franchise and augmentation from the ongoing share buyback. The extent of the multiple contraction seen at Shire has been extreme and the stock now shows the largest price-to-earnings gap versus peers seen in over 5 years. We believe market familiarity with Shire's new CEO will continue to build and assist in closing this valuation gap." Anglo American was extending losses from yesterday after the restructuring of its platinum operations prompted backlash from South African politicians and unions. The business was hit by fresh strikes at one of its mines today. UBS kept its 'neutral' rating on the stock today, saying that Anglo's "value, EPS momentum/growth, heightened South Africa risk and Minas Rio challenges make the risk/reward less compelling than for other diversified UK miners". Mining peers Xstrata, Kazakhmys and Glencore were also unwanted as risk appetite was scaled back due to concerns over the outlook for global economic growth. Providing the biggest drag on London's blue-chip index was tobacco giant Imperial after going ex-dividend this morning. From today, investors won't be able to tap into the group's latest final dividend payment. FTSE 100 - RisersTUI Travel (TT.) 298.70p +6.15%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 788.00p +2.47%Carnival (CCL) 2,519.00p +2.40%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 347.60p +2.36%United Utilities Group (UU.) 713.50p +2.29%Shire Plc (SHP) 2,079.00p +2.26%Experian (EXPN) 1,061.00p +2.22%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,558.00p +1.70%Evraz (EVR) 289.90p +1.58%Wood Group (John) (WG.) 799.50p +1.46%FTSE 100 - FallersImperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,366.00p -4.75%Xstrata (XTA) 1,135.00p -4.06%Glencore International (GLEN) 378.50p -3.62%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 52.96p -2.59%Anglo American (AAL) 1,911.00p -2.55%ITV (ITV) 109.80p -2.31%Vodafone Group (VOD) 159.95p -1.87%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,157.00p -1.78%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 771.00p -1.66%GKN (GKN) 240.20p -1.64%NR