Wall Street shares fall on open as GDP figures show decline

(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) US shares lost ground at the open as investors turned focus on economic data and in Europe Germany's politicians said yes to a Greek bail out extension.

It came as ahead of the bell a revision to the GDP figures showed the giant  US economy had grown at a slower pace than originally estimated but was still better than had been expected.

The economy grew at a revised 2.2% in the fourth quarter.

But it still sent a shudder through markets.

The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Index fell 32 points to 18182 while the Nasdaq dropped 12 to 4976. The broader based S&P 500 lost three points to 2108.

Credit card giant American Express was among the biggest fallers on the Dow after it unveiled an increase to the annual fee on some of its cards.

Back in London FTSE100 reversed earlier losses and added almost three points to stand at 6952.

RBS and Barclays the banking giants were losers but Lloyds (LON:LLOY) rose 1.13% to 79.39p.

Investors welcomed news the partly state-owned lender would be  paying out a divi to shareholders for the first time since 2008.

It comes as lender still partly state-owned said it made a profit before tax of £1.8bn last year ahead of estimates and up from the £415mln achieved in 2013.

The UK government  - with its 23.9% holdings in the firm – is set to receive £130mln of the payment.