Morning Markets: FTSE dips despite positive earnings news

The FTSE 100 opened lower in early trading, falling 0.24% or 13.76 points to 5740.09, despite a raft of positive earnings announcements.

Lloyds Banking Group said it had returned to profitability in the first quarter and expects this momentum to be sustained throughout the rest of the year. The news drove its shares up 2.16% to 71.76p. Prudential also rose 2.38% to 559p, after news its biggest shareholder wants to break up the insurer. Meanwhile, Imperial Tobacco increased 1.59% to £19.78, as revenue in the six months to March jumped by 8% to £13.4bn. Elsewhere, miners led market fallers. Kazakhmys dropped 2.43% to £14.44, while Rio Tinto declined 2.12% to £37.23 and Vedanta Resources slipped 2.04% to £27.38. O...