Lloyds Share News (LLOY)

After a steep sell-off early on, the FTSE 100 traded sideways in the morning session and remained firmly below the 5,300 level, registering triple-digit losses, as of midday. Stocks markets across Europe suffered falls of between 2% and 3%, while US futures were also pointing to sharp decline, as negative economic news from all corners of the globe continued to weigh on sentiment.STOCKS FALL ON GLOBAL CONCERNSExacerbating fears today was news from the US that a cross party committee in Congress tasked with agreeing $1.2 trillion of budget cuts has failed to reach a consensus. That news could put further pressure on the US's already weakened credit rating. Another nation with its credit rating at risk is France. Moody's has warned that increased government bond yields and an uncertain economic outlook has put its AAA credit rating at risk. "Elevated borrowing costs persisting for an extended period would amplify the fiscal challenge the French government faces amid a deteriorating growth outlook, with negative credit implications," credit office Alexander Kockerbeck said. Spain has voted the centre-right Popular Party to power hoping that party leader Mariano Yajoy will be able to bring an end to the country's mammoth debt troubles. "There will be no enemies for me other than unemployment, the deficit, excessive debt and economic stagnation," Rajoy said. Elsewhere, Japan's Ministry of Finance revealed that exports fell by an annual rate of 3.7% last month, the first decline in three months, as shipments to China, the US and Europe weakened. Furthermore, with imports rising 18% due to increased energy prices, the nation registered a deficit of 2.738bn yen. Meanwhile, Singapore's government expect that the nation could grow by just 1-3% in 2012, down from the 5%-expected growth in 2011. LLOYDS DROPS ON CEO CONTINGENCY PLANSThough Lloyds Banking says that its chief executive, António Horta-Osório, is making good progress after being ordered by his medical advisors to take a rest, the part-nationalised lender has made contingency plans just in case he does not return to the role by the end of the year as originally planned. Shares dropped nearly 7% after the bank announced that David Roberts, a non-executive director and chairman of Lloyds' Risk Committee, will take over as interim group chief executive if Horta-Osório's recuperation period takes longer than initially envisaged. Insurance giant Resolution fell over 3% lower after confirming that talks regarding the possible acquisition of Phoenix Group have been terminated. Phoenix, on the other hand, roared higher on the FTSE 250 after saying that it has received a number of approaches from other parties, most notably private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. Centrica was outperforming the FTSE 100, nudging just 0.1% lower, after signing a deal with the Norwegian company Statoil to buy £13bn worth of gas over ten years. In a separate transaction, Centrica has also announced it is to buy some of Statoil's assets in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea for £965m, with a further £63m to be paid on the future performance of the assets. Miners were dominate among the worst performers list with signs of a slowdown in Asia likely fuelling demand concerns. Fresnillo, Rio Tinto and Vedanta Resources suffered heavy losses on the blue chip index, joined by Centamin Egypt, Kenmare Resources and Aquarius Platinum on the FTSE 250.BCFTSE 100 - RisersFTSE 100 - FallersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 23.52p -6.67%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,602.00p -6.37%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,305.00p -6.25%Barclays (BARC) 158.00p -5.05%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,117.00p -4.85%Vedanta Resources (VED) 963.50p -4.60%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 824.00p -4.46%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,190.00p -4.34%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,031.00p -4.18%Schroders (SDR) 1,248.00p -4.15%FTSE 250 - RisersPhoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 528.00p +7.30%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,579.00p +2.14%Cranswick (CWK) 700.00p +0.65%AG Barr (BAG) 1,194.00p +0.34%Diploma (DPLM) 303.30p +0.33%KCOM Group (KCOM) 73.95p +0.27%BH Macro Ltd. USD Shares (BHMU) 19.9 +0.25%Exillon Energy (EXI) 295.10p +0.24%Mothercare (MTC) 133.30p +0.23%Premier Foods (PFD) 5.21p +0.19%FTSE 250 - FallersCentamin Egypt Ltd. (CEY) 90.20p -8.89%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 33.00p -7.72%Afren (AFR) 80.35p -7.32%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 167.90p -6.04%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 128.70p -5.92%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 36.95p -5.69%Petropavlovsk (POG) 646.00p -5.62%CSR (CSR) 163.00p -5.56%ITE Group (ITE) 178.70p -5.40%Wood Group (John) (WG.) 593.00p -5.12%