By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- Lloyds Banking Group PLC was a stand-out
gainer in an otherwise flat London market on Tuesday, with shares
of the bank surging on results, as BP also rose after its
results.
The FTSE 100 index was flat at 6,459.70, looking at a gain for
the month that won't even reach 1%. The index closed up 0.5% on the
prior session.
Just a few shares seemed to be driving the London action. Lloyds
(LYG) jumped over 4% after the bank said it swung to a hefty profit
in the first quarter of the year, with impairment charges dropping
off and no need to put money aside to cover the misselling of
payment protection insurance products.
Also higher, shares of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS)
jumped 5%.
Shares of BP PLC (BP) rose 3.6% after the oil major posted a
more than threefold rise in profit for the first quarter, driven by
proceeds from the sale of its Russian joint venture TNK-BP, a fall
in oil and gas production and downtime at a key Indiana
refinery.
On the downside in London, shares of heavyweight Unilever PLC
fell 1% after the company said it will raise its stake in Hindustan
Unilever, its India subsidiary, to 52.48% to up to 75%, spending
around 4.1 billion euros ($5.4 billion).
Shares of Centrica PLC fell over 2% after the utility was cut to
underperform from neutral by Credit Suisse, which said trading
conditions for its British Gas unit have deteriorated. It noted
that Centrica shares have performed well in the last 18 months.
Away from the main index, shares of Invensys PLC rose nearly 5%
after Societe Generale upgraded shares to buy from hold, citing an
improved investment profile and potential upside from merger and
acquisition activity.
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