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It has been an eventful week for Lloyds Banking Group — and it's only Tuesday.
The shares today firmed 0.9p to 98.9p ahead of tomorrow's share placing, which qualifies shareholders to take part in the £4 billion fundraising that will enable them to buy 0.62 of a share at a rather attractive 38.43p.
Lloyds needs the money to buy back the Government's preference shares, which formed part of the main plank in the bank's rescue package.
The shares will go ex-entitlement the 10 billion shares expected to be placed tomorrow, which brokers calculate will wipe 24p from the underlying value of the shares.
Last year Lloyds called on shareholders for £4.5 billion at 73.3p to help shore up its balance sheet but it was still forced to go cap in hand to the Government following the takeover of rival HBOS.
On Sunday, chairman Sir Victor Blank announced plans to stand down rather than seek re-election at next month's AGM. He was blamed by shareholders for not doing enough due diligence on the HBOS deal and subsequent losses.
Dealers say it is unlikely the Government will begin selling part of its 43% stake in Lloyds any time soon.
Other banks attracting support were Royal Bank of Scotland, up 1.7p at 43p, Barclays, ahead 11¼p at 292p, and HSBC, 18½p better at 574p.
Shares generally were able to extend this week's gains but traded below their best levels of the day following the latest slump in US housing starts. The FTSE 100 saw its lead reduced to 25.34 points at 4471.79, after touching 4512.7.
The squeeze continued among second-liners as highlighted by the FTSE 250 index, which bounded 92.2 higher to 7670.8. Wall Street made a nervous start this afternoon but the Dow posted a rise of 3.4 at 8507.5.
The UK's big exporters suffered a setback after seeing the pound climb to its highest level of the year to date against the dollar. A stronger currency makes them less competitive when trying to secure orders abroad, or when converting profits back into sterling.
Unilever fell 26p to 1507p, with aero-engines maker Rolls-Royce losing ¾p at 345¼p. UBS has also downgraded the shares from neutral to sell.
The big drop in profits at Marks & Spencer, down 32¼p at 307p, and the fall in the rate of inflation also had a knock-on effect on the rest of the retail sector.
Lower inflation, particularly in food, may be good news for consumers but is not welcomed by retailers. It may account for the falls seen in the big supermarket chains with Wm Morrison down 3½p at 246p, Tesco off 7.7p at 352.1p and J Sainsbury 2¼p lower at 344p.
M&S's rivals were also feeling the heat. Next retreated 37p to 1521p, while losses were also seen in Burberry, down 12½p at 388¾p, after results, and Debenhams, ¼p off at 88¾p.
Nick Bubb, retail analyst at Pali International, remains a seller of M&S. He said: “Despite the hype in their statement about speeding up change, overall it looks a bit underwhelming.”
UBS has repeated its buy rating on Tullow Oil, up 14p at 933½p and jacked up its target for the shares from 900p to 1015p.
The Tullow share price is up almost 40% since the start of the year on the back of its stake in Ghana's Jubilee Field and currently trades at a 16% premium to the broker's revised $60 oil risked net asset value.
Despite the premium, UBS continues to buy the shares because it believes they continue to offer significant scope for improvement in asset value. The sale of its Kosmos Energy stake throws up the possibility of an eventual bid for the company.
Dana Petroleum, down 23p at 1295p, is looking to place 4.34 million shares, or 5% of the company.
RBS Hoare Govett has begun an accelerated bookbuilding process in an effort to gauge demand. It wants the cash to accelerate its exploration programme.
Circle Oil also stood out with a rise of 3¼p at 32¾p after striking it rich at its Geyad-1X well in the Kareem Formation sandstones.
Davies Capital says the oil struck is of excellent quality and has repeated its buy rating on the shares.
It estimates that Circle should achieve production of at least 5000 barrels of oil per day by later this year and 7000 barrels by next year. The Geyad well could be worth 62p a share to Circle.
Mining giant Anglo American jumped 90p to 1578p on revived talk it may find itself on the receiving end of a bid from rival Xstrata, 38p higher at 655½p, before too long.
