Lloyds Share News (LLOY)

Footsie has been unable to make early gains stick and despite the strength of resource stocks is hovering close to its starting point for the day. Inflation data did little to boost sentiment, with the annual inflation rate remaining unchanged at 3.1% in August against expectations of a slight easing to 2.9% or 3.0%.Lloyds Banking Group sums up Footsie's morning so far, having opened firmer in the wake of the new Basel III banking guidelines announced yesterday before heading south. Royal Bank of Scotland is still in credit, however. In a generally firm mining sector Rio Tinto creeps higher after it said it is spending $803m ramping up the block cave project at its Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia to take advantage of strong demand in emerging markets.A Merrill Lynch downgrade hit TUI Travel. The broker says its stance is less aggressive compared to its peers. Defence group Cobham, though, has got a lift from an upgrade to 'outperform' from 'neutral' by Credit Suisse.The threat of public sector spending cuts may be hitting the share prices of some firms but Cable & Wireless and National Express showed this morning that there is still money to be made from government contracts. Telecoms firm Cable&Wireless Worldwide has convinced the government to spend £82m on a five and a half year global telecoms framework contract. The largely UK focused part of the old Cable & Wireless, split off in March, believes the deal with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), which also includes a suite of IP services, will pave the way for similar contracts with other government departments.Bus and train group has National Express, meanwhile, has been given a seven month extension on its East Anglia rail franchise.Department store Debenhams sounded a cautious note on consumer confidence but expects its strategy of lifting margins by selling more of its own label products to result in strong profits. The company saw flat like-for-like sales in the year to 28 August, with a recovery in the last 10 weeks making up for a 1.5% fall throughout the earlier part of the year.Ultra-trendy fashion chain SuperGroup's sales jumped by nearly 60% in the three months to August, as the group expanded both in the UK and abroad, but it was not enough to impress the market. Fund manager Ashmore saw a big hike in profits last year as more money from existing clients meant assets under management increased steadily throughout the 12 months. The emerging markets specialist reported pre-tax profits of £217.2m in the year to June, up from £159.8m, on sales of £281.4m, up from £245.7m.Oxford Instruments has soared after stating the strength in research and industrial markets, coupled with the efficiency improvements from the restructuring programme mean underlying interim profits will be not less than £10m.Meatpacker Hilton Food served up a 12% increase in half yearly pre-tax profit and said while challenges remain it expects to meet full year expectations.Shares in Solomon Gold soared after the miner, which is exploring for gold and copper in the Solomon Islands and Australia , said it believes its Fauro Project in the Solomons may have 'world class gold deposit' after initial surface sampling.Another stock going well is Porvair. Shares in the specialist filtration firm stormed ahead after it said full year results are expected to be well ahead of expectations.