Lloyds Share News (LLOY)

The UK benchmark index opened flat on Friday morning as investors turn to the US where President Barack Obama is to hold budget talks in Congress to discuss the impending 'fiscal cliff'.The Footsie finished yesterday's session at 5,678, its lowest closing value since September 5th when it finished at 5,658.Obama is meeting with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders today to initiate discussions over a deal that would negotiate a reduction to the deficit in a bid to avoid the so-called US 'fiscal cliff'. Lawmakes must come to an agreement in order to avoid $607bn in spending cuts and tax increases that, if not changed, will take effect on January 1st.Acting as a backdrop, Italy's Finance Minister has told Bloomberg he is optimistic that Europe can reach an agreement on Greece next week. The International Monetary Fund's Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, on the other hand, has been cited in a slightly more sceptical vein. "European equities are trading little changed this morning being supported by a late rally in the US yesterday evening and firmer markets across Asia on hopes that a likely change in government in Japan will herald more economic and aggressive stimulus in 2013," said Markus Huber, the head of German HNW trading at ETX Capital.FTSE 100: Melrose sinks; Reckitt announces Schiff offerA red flag has been raised at industrial turnaround specialist Melrose, with the group saying some of its businesses have seen a slow-down in business in recent weeks. The overall weekly rate of order intake in the second half of the year has been 8% lower than the first half , but Melrose said it is too early to tell how this will affect 2013, and in any case the order intake rate is varying on a business by business basis. Shares dropped nearly 14% early on.Consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser fell after it launched a $1.4bn (£882m) counterbid for US nutrition specialist Schiff Nutrition International, with the tender offer beginning today. Banking peers RBS and Lloyds were making slight gains this morning. A Public Accounts Committee report said today that while the government would look to make a profit for taxpayers on the sale of its stake in the two banks, this may not happen "for many years". It also said that there is a risk that the £66bn invested in RBS and Lloyds "may never be recovered".Oil titan BP was subdued as investors digested yesterday's late announcement that it has resolved all criminal claims with the Department of Justice in relation to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster in 2010 and will pay the US government $4bn in installments over the next five years. It is also paying the Securities and Exchange Commission $525m over a three-year period. Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, was in demand after winning an order to design and equip two platform supply vessels being built by Jiangsu Eastern Heavy Industries in China.Engineering giant IMI gained after saying that second-half trading has been in line with expectations so far in spite of some expected weakness in the Fluid Power division.Mining giant Anglo American rose after announcing that its heavy building materials producing unit Tarmac and French cement group Lafarge are to sell a portfolio of UK construction material operations to steel tycoon ?Lakshmi Mittal for £272m. FTSE 100 - RisersSerco Group (SRP) 559.50p +2.75%IMI (IMI) 965.00p +2.44%Next (NXT) 3,609.00p +1.66%ARM Holdings (ARM) 725.00p +1.33%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 163.10p +1.24%Vodafone Group (VOD) 160.65p +0.94%Compass Group (CPG) 693.50p +0.87%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,239.00p +0.81%Sage Group (SGE) 303.20p +0.80%Kingfisher (KGF) 277.40p +0.73%FTSE 100 - FallersMelrose (MRO) 203.70p -13.69%Pennon Group (PNN) 614.00p -2.31%Evraz (EVR) 222.60p -1.29%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 256.10p -1.08%Whitbread (WTB) 2,346.00p -1.05%Wood Group (John) (WG.) 783.00p -0.95%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,060.00p -0.75%AstraZeneca (AZN) 2,823.00p -0.69%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 272.80p -0.58%BT Group (BT.A) 223.90p -0.58%FTSE 250 - RisersBodycote (BOY) 386.00p +6.42%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 109.50p +4.29%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 69.90p +3.17%Man Group (EMG) 75.25p +2.03%TR Property Inv Trust Sigma Shares (TRYS) 80.65p +1.96%Genus (GNS) 1,305.00p +1.64%Salamander Energy (SMDR) 183.30p +1.44%Balfour Beatty (BBY) 253.40p +1.40%Ashtead Group (AHT) 378.10p +1.31%Fidessa Group (FDSA) 1,312.00p +1.16%FTSE 250 - FallersCOLT Group SA (COLT) 101.60p -3.24%Bumi (BUMI) 269.80p -1.68%Lonmin (LMI) 482.20p -1.67%Kier Group (KIE) 1,124.00p -1.66%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 465.20p -1.63%SIG (SHI) 103.30p -1.53%Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 331.50p -1.46%Ruspetro (RPO) 93.85p -1.42%BH Global Ltd. GBP Shares (BHGG) 1,135.00p -1.30%Murray Income Trust (MUT) 654.50p -1.28%BC