UK Stocks-Factors to watch on October 28
UK Stocks-Factors to watch on October 28 Oct 28 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening down on Wednesday, with futures FFIc1 down 0.2%.
*STANDARD CHARTERED: Standard Chartered (StanChart) STAN.L on Wednesday hiked its income and profitability targets after third-quarter profit handily beat estimates with robust performances from its wealth and global markets divisions.
* UK BUDGET: British finance minister John Healey is set to announce a cautious budget plan on Wednesday as he tries to avoid piling more bond market pressure on the new government of Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
* INDIVIDUAL SAVINGS ACCOUNT: British finance minister John Healey is to use his Wednesday budget to scrap plans to slash the annual cash Individual Savings Account (ISA) allowance from £20,000 ($26,626.00) to £12,000, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
* UK'S GAS: British finance minister John Healey plans to cut household gas bills by up to £50 ($66.57) in his first budget to be announced on Wednesday, the Telegraph reported on Tuesday.
* THAMES WATER: Global ratings agency S&P downgraded Thames Water Utilities by a notch to "CCC-" on Tuesday, saying the UK water supplier's plans to extend debt maturities and increase borrowing under a super senior facility reflected a distressed financial position.
* COMMODITIES: Oil prices rose, Gold prices ticked lower and Aluminium rose on Wednesday
* FTSE 100: Britain's FTSE 100 underperformed European peers on Tuesday, weighed down by HSBC after it missed quarterly revenue estimates, while investors stayed cautious ahead of the government's budget.
* UK CORPORATE DIARY:
Unilever | ULVR.L | Q3 trading update |
GSK | GSK.L | Q3 results |
Aston Martin | AML.L | Q3 results |
Intertek | ITRK.L | Q3 trading update |
S4 Capital | SFOR.L | Q3 trading update |
Elementis | ELM.L | Q3 trading update |
Hunting | HTG.L | Q3 trading update |
* 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
(Compiled by Tuhina in Bengaluru)