UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Aug. 22 (updated)

Activision Blizzard

22/08/2023 07:56

(Adds new items and updates futures)
       Aug 22 - Britain's FTSE 100  .FTSE  index is seen
opening higher on Tuesday with futures  .FFIc1  up 0.21%.
    
    * CMA:  Microsoft  MSFT.O  said that its acquisition target
Activision  ATVI.O  would sell its non-European streaming rights
to Ubisoft Entertainment  UBIP.PA  as part of a restructured
transaction to get it past British regulators.
        * BORROWING: Britain recorded a 
    smaller-than-expected budget deficit
     in July, leaving finance minister Jeremy Hunt on track, at
least for now, to have some leeway to cut taxes later this year
before an election expected in 2024.
  
        * JOHN WOOD: British oilfield services and engineering
firm John Wood Group  WG.L  raised its expectations for annual
adjusted core profit, betting on contract wins in its energy and
materials business to sustain growth.
        * LOOKERS: British car dealership Lookers  LOOK.L ,
which has agreed to a 504.2 million pound ($644.47 million)
takeover by Global Auto Holdings, said the group witnessed
resilient first-half trading despite macroeconomic challenges.
    * INDIVIOR: Indivior  INDV.L  has agreed to pay $30 million
to settle a class action lawsuit filed in a U.S. court.
    * SHELL: Shell Plc's  SHEL.L  local unit is investigating a
possible leak on its Trans Niger oil pipeline that traverses the
Bodo community in Nigeria's River state.
    * HOUSING MARKET: A steep surge in interest rates has made
it harder to buy a home, despite wages growing much faster than
house prices over the past year, figures from mortgage lender
Halifax showed .
    * OIL: Oil edged lower as the market waited to see if Iraqi
oil exports resume.
        * GOLD:  Gold prices 
    firmed above
     recent lows.
  
        
  
    * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please
click on:  LIVE/     
    TODAY'S UK PAPERS
    > Financial Times                       PRESS/FT 
    > Other business headlines              PRESS/GB 


($1 = 0.7824 pounds)

 (Reporting by Zainab Saifuddin Saifee)
 ((Zainab.SaifuddinSaifee@thomsonreuters.com;))