Lloyds Share News (LLOY)

It's all eyes on Lloyds Banking Tuesday when the lender, 41% owned by the taxpayer, updates the market on first quarter trading just five weeks after it predicted a return to profit in 2010.Chief executive Eric Daniels said last month the part-nationalised bank will be profitable on a combined businesses basis this year, having announced a smaller than feared £6.3bn pre-tax loss for 2009 in February.Full-year numbers may get a lift from a £1bn one-off gain following December's decision to cap any increase to the pensionable salary of its staff.Gordon Brown is likely to pounce on any good news which may give his election campaign a much-needed boost.Oil giant BP, currently trying to prevent an environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, is expected to reveal that strong upstream (E&P) results more than compensated for the tough trading conditions in downstream (Refining & Marketing) during the first quarter.Charles Stanley is looking for E&P profit contribution of $7.5bn, up from $7.1bn in the fourth quarter of 2009, but says Refining and Marketing results are hard to estimate, so could provide some volatility in terms of expectations. It plumps for a fall to $0.5bn from $1.5bn a year ago.The broker predicts Imperial Tobacco will report EPS of 82.3p at the half year versus 71.8p last time and an interim dividend of 24.3p per share compared with 21p before.Elsewhere, UBS thinks computer chip designer ARM Holdings will publish "solid" first quarter numbers, driven by strong handset volumes and the continuing move towards smartphones.INTERIMSCharacter Group, Connaught, Icon, Imperial Innovations, Imperial Tobacco Group, Next Fifteen CommunicationsINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSBoJ Intrest Rates (JPN) (00:00)Consumer Confidence (US) (15:00)House Price Index (US) (15:00)Producer Price Index(AUS) (00:00)Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index (15:00)GfK Consumer Confidence Survey (GER) (07:00)Consumer Confidence (FRA) (07:45)Jobseekers Net Change (FRA) (18:00)Small Business Confidence (JPN)FINALSAsia Digital Holdings, Brown (N.) Group, Lifeline Scientific Inc. (Reg S), Pinnacle Staffing Group, Public Service Properties InvestmentIMSSDunelm Group, GlobeOp Financial Services, Lloyds Banking Group, Premier Foods, Promethean WorldEGMSJSM IndochinaAGMSBradford & Bingley 11.625% Perp Sub Bds, Communisis, Efes Breweries International GDR (Reg S), Fidessa, Informa, IP Group, Laird, New World Resources, Oxford Biomedica, Personal Group Holdings, Primary Health Properties, Progressive Digital Media Group, Shires Smaller Companies Trust, Witan Inv Trust, XchangingUK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSCBI Distributive Trends Surveys (11:00)Mortgage Approvals (09:30)Q1ARM Holdings, BP, Electrolux AB, Norsk Hydro, Novo-Nordisk AS 'B' Shares, Reckitt Benckiser Group, United Bank GDR (Reg S)