Lloyds shares drop after government sells down stake

Shares in Lloyds Banking Group fell more than 5% this morning after the government sold another 7.8% of its stake in the bank last night.

The shares opened this morning at 74.5p, 5.7% below their closing price of 79p last night, as the government announced the sale of 5.35bn shares at the price of 75.5p. The price has recovered since to trade at 76p by 9.35am, 4% down from last night's closing price. The first sale in September, which saw a 6% stake in the group returned to shareholders, was priced at 75p and raised a total of £3.2bn. The Treasury raised around £4.2bn through yesterday's sale, which saw its stake in the bank reduced by 7.8% to 24.9%. The total raised from both sales comes to £7.4bn. However, the F...