UPDATE: Lloyds Swings To First-Half Loss

Lloyds Banking Group PLC LYG swung to a first-half net loss on Thursday. Lloyds Banking posted a net loss of 2.31 billion pounds ($3.79 billion), versus a profit of 596 million pounds, in the year-ago period. In its core business, its pretax profit dropped 28% to 2.66 billion pounds and declined 6% on an underlying basis to 2.9 billion pounds. LYG shares gained 1.57% to close at $2.59 yesterday.