Lloyds Bank declines on 4Q losses

European equities markets were lower Friday after a deal was announced between the US government and Citigroup (NYSE: C) in which the government will take as much as a 36 percent stake in the bank.

The news made some analysts and investors worry that the deal is a step down the road to nationalization of banks.

In London, the FTSE 100 was 2.18 percent lower to 3,830.09 while the FTSE 250 dropped 1.22 percent to 6,049.14.

Banks and insurers were the top five losers on the 100, with Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) turning in the worst performance on the session as it dropped 22.27 percent after it reported a large full-year loss in 2008.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 fell 2.07 percent to 717.34 while the CAC-40 was down 1.54 percent to 2,702.48 in Paris, Spain’s IBEX was 2.44 percent lower to 7,620.9 and the Dax dropped 2.51 percent to 3843.74 in Frankfurt.

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed, with more seeing losses than gains.

Tokyo markets were up on the session, but the Nikkei has still dropped 5.3 percent this month as is 14.6 percent lower for the year so far.

The Nikkei 225 added 1.48 percent to 7,568.42 while the Topix index was up 1.91 percent to 756.71 and the Mothers market of small and mid-caps was up 0.07 percent to 297.21.

Other gainers on the session included the Kospi, which added 0.78 percent to 1,063.03 while at the same time the Taiex gained 0.85 percent to 4,557.15.

In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries fell 0.02 percent to 3,296.9 while the S&P/ASX200 dropped 0.03 percent to 3,344.5.

The Hang Seng was down 0.65 percent to 12,811.57, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.71 percent to 8,891.61, the Straits Times Index was 1.4 percent lower to 1,594.87, and the Shanghai Composite dropped 1.81 percent to 2,082.85.

At just before 1:30 p.m. in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 0.37 percent to 7,155.24 while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.07 percent to 1,390.51 and the S&P 500 had dropped 1 percent to 745.27.

Crude oil prices were lower, as was the price of copper, while precious metals and grains prices were mixed.

The US dollar and the yen gained strength while the pound faltered on low consumer confidence.

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