Lloyds Share News (LLOY)

London's blue chip index has opened higher, building on last week's gains of 7.5%, as a pivotal week in the Eurozone crisis kicks off.KEY WEEK FOR EUROFrench President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are due to meet in Paris today to discuss the centralised control of Eurozone budgets ahead of a key EU summit on Friday.Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti announced yesterday that his government has approved a new package of austerity measures through 2014 worth €24bn. The plan includes more than €12bn in spending cuts."As the euro area crisis moves towards a critical point, the week ahead looks to be make or break. Euro leaders appear to be gravitating around an IMF-centred solution, with the detail still to be defined. The event of the week is likely to be the EU Leaders' Summit on Friday with a pre-Summit dinner scheduled for Thursday night too," said analysts at Investec.BANKS RISE, MICHAEL PAGE PLUMMETSThe banks were in demand in the opening minutes as confidence in leaders working to resolve the Eurozone crisis increased. Barclays, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland roared higher.Defensive stocks were being sold off in early trade, as increased optimism for the Eurozone prompted a heightened risk appetite. Among the fallers were pharmaceutical stocks AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, utilities companies Centrica and SSE, and tobacco rivals British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco.Gold prices were heading lower, dragging the share prices of Randgold Resources and African Barrick Gold into the red.On the FTSE 250, recruitment firm Michael Page International plummeted after warning on full-year profits following a significant slow-down in growth in the fourth quarter. Shares dropped nearly 13% after the group said that the Eurozone crisis has "reduced client and candidate confidence". Sector peers Hays was also out of favour.TUI Travel was higher after posting a 25% increase in annual pre-tax profit despite the challenging geopolitical and economic environment. Pre-tax profit rose to £360m for the year ended 30 September from £289m previously, while revenue rose 9% to £14.7bn. Sector peer Thomas Cook rose in sympathy.Aberdeen Asset Management was firmer after seeing underlying pre-tax profits jump 44% in the year ended 30 September. The firm's full-year dividend increased from 7p to 9p per share.BCFTSE 100 - RisersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 26.20p +3.17%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 22.29p +3.05%Barclays (BARC) 194.85p +2.20%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,109.00p +2.12%Cairn Energy (CNE) 278.10p +1.50%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 683.50p +1.33%Essar Energy (ESSR) 248.60p +1.30%Wolseley (WOS) 1,947.00p +1.20%IMI (IMI) 787.50p +1.16%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 671.50p +1.13%FTSE 100 - FallersSmith & Nephew (SN.) 577.50p -3.10%GKN (GKN) 191.10p -1.34%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,655.00p -0.67%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,189.00p -0.50%Aggreko (AGK) 1,877.00p -0.42%British Land Co (BLND) 502.00p -0.30%AstraZeneca (AZN) 2,915.00p -0.29%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,448.50p -0.28%ARM Holdings (ARM) 599.00p -0.25%Hammerson (HMSO) 389.80p -0.15%FTSE 250 - RisersPremier Foods (PFD) 5.90p +7.47%TUI Travel (TT.) 177.70p +4.78%SThree (STHR) 231.50p +4.37%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 16.90p +4.26%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 11.98p +4.17%Rightmove (RMV) 1,323.00p +3.68%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 210.00p +3.24%Pace (PIC) 59.00p +3.06%Telecom Plus (TEP) 790.00p +2.60%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 118.90p +2.50%FTSE 250 - FallersMichael Page International (MPI) 317.90p -12.90%Hays (HAS) 67.45p -5.27%Computacenter (CCC) 350.20p -4.32%Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 71.55p -1.65%Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 1,438.00p -1.51%JPMorgan Asian Inv Trust (JAI) 190.00p -1.50%Shaftesbury (SHB) 493.30p -1.18%Polar Cap Technology Trust (PCT) 328.50p -0.90%Home Retail Group (HOME) 97.55p -0.86%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 512.00p -0.68%