Thursday newspaper round-up: Federal Reserve, Tesco, Lloyds...

US stock markets soared on Wednesday night after the Federal Reserve “gave its clearest signal yet that it intends to raise borrowing costs by — or even before — the middle of next year”, writes The Times. Fed chair Janet Yellen said the bank was “unlikely” to hike interest rates “for at least the next couple of meetings”.

The blackhole in Tesco’s accounts may be larger than feared, according to The Telegraph, citing research from JPMorgan Cazenove. “The profit generated by Tesco’s UK subsidiaries in the last financial year was £319m less than the profits reported by the company itself in the UK,” the paper writes.

George Osborne hopes to raise £3bn by selling another chunk of the government’s stake in Lloyds Banking Group, the Financial Times reported. This move will test investor appetite for shares in the part-nationalised bank, according to the paper, and the chancellor’s announcement should see the taxpayers’ holding in Lloyds gradually fall from 25% towards 20% in the run-up to the general election next May.

BT is preparing a finance package including a £2bn rights issue to help fund its planned EE takeover, according to The Telegraph. BT is also expected to raise around £3bn in the bond markets to fund its mobile ambitions, sources said, to help win the support of existing shareholders who may be resistant to any greater dilution, the paper said.

The Times said that the world’s largest bond manager, Pimco, suffered an “exodus” from a key fund as Russia’s financial crisis deepens. Pimco received over $1bn in redemption requests from investors in its $3.3bn emerging markets bond fund.

Online real estate portal Zoopla has said that a third of homes on the market have been discounted “as the slowdown in the housing market forces sellers to be more realistic about their expectations”, The Guardian writes. 33% of properties listed for sale had been discounted at least once, the highest proportion since August 2012.