Lloyds Share News (LLOY)

Lloyds leads the banking sector after giving an impromptu and upbeat trading update ahead of a presentation at the Morgan Stanley european financials conference today.Lloyds will be profitable on a combined businesses basis in 2010, chief executive Eric Daniels claimed Friday. Daniels said trading in the first 10 weeks of 2010 had been "strong", prompting UBS to lift is rating on Lloyds shares to 'buy' from 'neutral' while Deutsche Bank has resumed coverage of the stock with a 'buy' recommendation.Sector peers Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Barclays both shot higher in sympathy but HSBC, which has a more international focus than Lloyds, RBS and Barclays, was barely moved by the announcement.Emerging markets-focused bank Standard Chartered is similarly becalmed after its shares were downgraded to 'neutral' from 'buy' by Goldman SachsDefensive stocks such as electricity provider Scottish and Southern Energy and gas provider Centrica are shunned as investors look to more exciting sectors.Top performing sectors so far todayAlternative Energy 6,815.63 +3.33%Industrial Metals & Mining 6,359.59 +2.66%Banks 5,116.81 +2.11%Forestry & Paper 5,225.19 +1.87%Financial Services 5,173.80 +1.42%Bottom performing sectors so far todayElectricity 6,448.33 -1.07%Gas, Water & Multiutilities 4,243.41 -0.57%Tobacco 27,039.21 -0.48%Health Care Equipment & Services 3,697.32 -0.08%