Lloyds Share News (LLOY)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Volatility has returned to the markets Thursday, after a big sell-off in equities in the US overnight due to some unexpectedly weak economic data was compounded by Saudi Arabia's decision to attack rebels in Yemen, a move that sent oil and gold prices higher.

US stocks fell for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, with the technology stock-heavy Nasdaq Composite index dropping 2.4% as concerns over weak demand for processors was compounded by weak domestic durable goods orders. US stock futures are pointing to another lower open on Thursday, with negative sentiment in the tech sector heightened after flash memory card maker SanDisk Corp cut its first quarter and whole of 2015 revenue outlook pre-market on the back of lower than expected sales as well as lower prices for some products.

Asian and European equities markets followed the Wall Street lead, with Saudi Arabia's decision to strike against advancing Yemen rebels adding to the nervousness in the markets.

The oil-rich nation has launched airstrikes targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen with the support of Gulf region allies and the US. Saudi ambassador in the US, Adel al-Jubeir said the military action was aimed to defend the "legitimate government" of President Abd rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has taken refuge in the southern port city of Aden.

The operations began shortly after the US government said, "In response to the deteriorating security situation, Saudi Arabia, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, and others will undertake military action to defend Saudi Arabia's border and to protect Yemen's legitimate government."

The Iran-backed rebels are reportedly besieging Aden, but forces loyal to the President say that they recaptured the city airport on Thursday after heavy fighting with Houthi fighters. Houthi rebel leader Mohammed al-Bukhaiti described the Saudi operation as an aggression against Yemen and warned that it could trigger a wide war in the region.

That news has pushed up oil prices, while gold is also up as it attracts safe-haven buying. Brent oil is up 3.5%, while WTI is up 4.0%, and gold is trading up 1.4%.

In the FTSE 100, London Stock Exchange Group is the worst-performing stock on the day after Borse Dubai, the LSE's biggest shareholder, said it has sold its entire 17.4% LSE stake in a block sale managed by BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays Bank and Nomura International.

Borse Dubai, which is majority owned by Dubai's state holding company, has made a tidy return on its investment. It bought the stake back in 2007 when shares were trading at below 2,000.00 pence, then watched the exchange's shares drop below 1,000.00 pence during 2008 when the financial crisis set in, but there has been a steady recovery over the past two years and the stock hit an all-time record of 2,595.00 pence on Wednesday.

The stock is down 8.0% at 2,334.00 pence midday Thursday.

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Markets: London shares are trading sharply lower amid a wider European sell-off sparked by a heavy fall on Wall Street on Wednesday and compounded by the growing tensions in the Middle East.

US stock futures point to a lower open, with the DJIA and S&P 500 set to open down 0.7% and the Nasdaq 100 down 1.1%.

FTSE 100: down 1.4% at 6,892.70
FTSE 250: down 1.7% at 17,207.64
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.4% at 714.88
GBP-USD: up at 1.4888
EUR-USD: flat at 1.0966
GOLD: up at USD1,207.64 an ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD58.01 a barrel
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Other Top Corporate News
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Royal Bank of Scotland Group sold an approximate 25% stake in Citizens Financial Group in the US, raising a total of USD3.21 billion. RBS sold 135 million shares in Citizens, around 25% of its issued share capital, for USD23.75 per share. The amount of shares sold was more than RBS had indicated when it first announced the share sale on Monday, when it said it would sell 115 million shares, plus an over-allotment option. Upon closing of the offer, RBS ownership of Citizens will be cut from around 70.3% to 45.6%. If the over-allotment option is taken up the underwriters on the issue, RBS's remaining stake would be around 41.9%.
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The UK government has sold a further 1% stake in Lloyds Banking Group, with the state-backed lender continuing its slow return to full private ownership. The government's stake has now fallen to 21.99% from 22.98% previously, after selling at 0.99% stake. Lloyds' profitability and return to paying dividends in 2014 has given the government further impetus to selling its shares in the lender. The government is selling through a trading plan managed by Morgan Stanley.
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Etihad Airways has said it will sell its stake in Aer Lingus Group should the Irish government back the EUR1.35 billion takeover bid for the carrier from International Consolidated Airlines Group, the Financial Times reported. Etihad is the third largest shareholder in Aer Lingus with a 4.9% stake. "Our investment in Aer Lingus has been a sound one and we are heading for a great return if the IAG bid is approved by the Irish government," said Etihad Airways Chief Executive James Hogan. "If IAG are successful, I would expect us to divest."
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EasyJet said raised its profit guidance for the first half of its financial year thanks mainly to favourable exchange rate movements, with raised revenue per seat guidance offset by an increase in its cost per seat expectation as it was forced to do more de-icing and due to disruptions. The low-cost airline said it now expects to report between a pretax loss of GBP5 million and a pretax profit of GBP10 million for the six months to end-March, compared with the forecast for a loss of between GBP10 million and GBP30 million it gave in January. This is mainly because it now expects a GBP20 million boost from favourable exchange rate movements, compared with the GBP10 million favourable impact it had previously expected.
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GlaxoSmithKline said that its Encruse Ellipta product, or umeclidinium, has been approved for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Additionally, its Duac gel for the treatment of acne vulgaris and its pneumococcal conjugate paediatric vaccine Synflorix were also approved in Japan. Glaxo expects to launch Encruse Ellipta in Japan during 2015.
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UK power grid operator National Grid said it is intending to sign an agreement with Norwegian electricity transmission system operator Statnett SF for the proposed UK-Norway interconnector project. The 730 kilometre interconnector between the two countries will be the first electricity link between the pair, with a planned capacity of 1,400 megawatt. The estimated cost of the project is around EUR2 billion, with National Grid and Statnett to share the investment.
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Amec Foster Wheeler reported lower profit for 2014, as the downturn in the oil and mining markets was only partially offset by growth in clean energy, and it warned that reduced spending plans by its customers was likely to further weigh on profit margins in 2015. The recently merged oil services company reported a pretax profit of GBP155 million for 2014, down from GBP255 million in 2013. It raised its full-year dividend to 43.3 pence a share, from 42.0p in 2013, including a final dividend of 28.5p.
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SuperGroup maintained its profit guidance for the year as it outlined the outcome of its strategic review, including the acquisition of its North American distribution licence and plans to start paying dividends in its 2016 financial year. SuperGroup said it expects its profit for the 2015 financial year to be in the GBP60 million to GBP65 million range, in line with its previous guidance. SuperGroup said it plans to starts paying dividends to its shareholders starting in its 2016 financial year. The company also said it has signed a collaboration with actor Idris Elba to produce a premium clothing line which will sold as part of the autumn/winter 2015 season.
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International Public Partnerships reported a 27% jump in pretax profit in 2014 as higher investment income and lower expenses more than offset increased finance costs. It made a GBP71.2 million pretax profit in 2014, compared with GBP56.1 million in the prior year. The company said that net asset value increased to GBP1.062 billion at the end of 2014 from GBP935.4 million at the end of 2013, representing an increase of 3.3% of NAV per share, which moved to 127.0 pence per share from 123.0 pence per share. International Public Partnerships increased its dividend for the year to 6.30 pence per share from 6.15 pence per share.
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AIM Movers
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Plexus Holdings shares are up by a fifth after it signed a framework agreement with China's Yantai Jereh Oilfield Services under which the pair will work towards formalising a licence agreement which will allow Yantai Jereh to manufacture and sell Plexus wellhead equipment in the Chinese and wider Asian oil and gas markets. As part of the deal, Yantai Jereh will subscribe for Plexus shares totalling up to 5% of its issued share capital at a price of 180 pence per share. AFC Energy is also up 20% after it received the first partial building permit in Stade in Germany to build an industrial alkaline fuel-cell facility. Oilex is up after it construction of the oil and gas production facilities at the Cambay-73 well in India was progressing well and it hopes the joint venture will be able to start production during May. Metminco is also up after it discovered a "significant copper occurrence" to the southwest of the main deposit at the Los Calatos copper project in southern Peru and it's revising its structural model for the project. Ironveld is another gainer after an application for a mining right for three farms within the vanadium and titanium project in South Africa was accepted by the country's Department of Mineral Resources. Arcontech Group shares are down by a quarter after it swung to a first-half pretax profit but warned that its full-year results could be hit as a big customer has asked to end its contract 18 months early. Scisys is down after it posted a rise in pretax profit in 2014, but warned that the strength of sterling, uncertainty in public funding ahead of the UK general election and contract deferrals means it expects its performance in 2015 to be flat.
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Other Top Economics And General
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British retail sales growth accelerated more than expected in February, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Retail sales volume increased at a faster pace of 0.7% in February from January, when it gained 0.1%. The monthly growth exceeded a 0.4% increase forecast by economists. Sales excluding auto fuel also increased 0.7% and reversed January's 0.3% fall. It was forecast to rise by 0.4%. On a yearly basis, retail sales including automotive fuel rose 5.7% in February, slower than a 5.9% rise seen in January.
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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will attempt to sell a package of economic reforms demanded by creditors to his lefist party in the next few days, reports said. According to a report in the daily Kathimerini, Tsipras will try to win over hardliners within his leftist SYRIZA party to back the reform plan, which could include the continuation of a highly unpopular property tax for another year as well as labour and pension reforms. The government will also only carry out privatizations which will allow it to retain a controlling majority while the country's lenders want the special 30% reduction on VAT enjoyed by the Greek islands to be scrapped.
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Saudi Arabia has launched airstrikes targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen with the support of Gulf region allies and the US. Saudi ambassador in the US, Adel al-Jubeir said the military action was aimed to defend the "legitimate government" of President Abd rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has taken refuge in the southern port city of Aden. The Saudi diplomat told reporters that GCC members are taking this action in response to a direct request by Hadi. Washington confirmed this.
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The US and its allies launched airstrikes on the Iraqi city of Tikrit, the Defence Department said, in support of an Iraqi government offensive to retake the northern city from Islamist militants. The operation by the US-led coalition had been requested by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the US said.
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Israeli President Reuven Rivlin tasked Benjamin Netanyahu with forming a government, after an election last week won by his right-wing Likud party paved the way for a third consecutive term as prime minister. Netanyahu has been holding talks with other parties and it appears he would be able to pull together a hardline right-wing coalition that has a 67-seat majority in the 120-member Knesset.
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Afternoon Watchlist (all times in GMT)

13:00 US Fed's Lockhart speech
13:45 US Markit PMI Composite Preliminary
14:30 US EIA Natural Gas Storage change
15:00 US Kansas Fed manufacturing activity
23:30 Japan National Consumer Price Index
23:30 Japan Unemployment Rate
23:50 Japan Retail Trade
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Friday's Key UK Corporate Events

Judges Scientific - Full Year Results
Imperial Innovations Group - Half Year Results
Carnival - Q1 Results
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Friday's Key Economic Events (all times in GMT)

00:05 UK Gfk Consumer Confidence
07:00 Germany Import Price Index
07:00 UK Nationwide Housing Prices
07:45 France Consumer Confidence
08:45 UK BOE's Governor Carney speech
09:00 Italy Industrial Sales/Orders
09:15 UK MPC Member Broadbent Speech
10:00 Italy Retail Sales
10:30 US Fed's Stanley Fischer speech
12:30 US Gross Domestic Product
15:00 US Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index
19:45 US Fed's Yellen Speech
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