Morning Markets: FTSE up despite more bank bad debt

The FTSE 100 climbed in early trading on Thursday but further reports of bad debt for banks stifled p...

The FTSE 100 climbed in early trading on Thursday but further reports of bad debt for banks stifled progress. Shares in Lloyds Banking Group fell almost 7% to 105.3p after the banking giant admitted corporate impairment levels rose significantly last year and are continuing to climb. It says soaring bad debt from legacy HBOS customers will contribute to a 50% rise in loan book write-offs in 2009 compared to 2008. Barclays too reported a sharp increase in bad debts but a 15% rise in quarterly pre-tax profits helped the company to an early 1.56% gain to 292.5p. As of shortly before 9.30...