UK Stocks-Factors to watch on June 24 (updated)

Berkeley group

Today 07:49

Adds new items, updates futures

    June 24 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening lower on Wednesday, with futures FFIc1 down 0.3%.

    * BERKELEY: Berkeley BKGH.L 
    reported
     annual pretax profit below expectations, as construction activity slowed.
  

    * SEGRO: Prologis PLD.N said Segro SGRO.L 
    rejected
     its £12.6 billion all-share takeover proposal and urged shareholders to press the British firm's board to engage with the U.S. logistics firm.
  
* BT GROUP: BT Group's BT.L pension scheme lost about £300 million on its investment in Thames Water after writing off its 8.7% stake in the utility, the Financial Times reported.
* RIO TINTO: Rio Tinto RIO.L expects its lithium business to grow faster than its copper, iron ore and other divisions as it works to triple production by 2028 for the electric vehicle and battery storage markets, an executive said.
* ENERGY: Britain's Climate Change Committee urged the government to accelerate efforts to transition to clean energy and remove policy costs from electricity bills.
* PAY: British employers expect to scale back pay increases markedly next year, according to a survey from human resources data firm Brightmine that added to signs of a cooling labour market.
* OIL: Oil prices fell over 1%, extending this week's losses and trading near four-month lows, on signs that more oil tankers stranded in the Gulf are set to move out of the Strait of Hormuz.
* METALS: Aluminium prices stayed near a three-month low on the London Metal Exchange, as a strong dollar and hopes of a resumption in Middle East supply weighed.

    * GOLD:  Gold extended
     losses
    , touching its lowest in almost two weeks, as the dollar climbed due to rising bets of U.S. rate hikes.
  
* 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 Neeshita Beura in Bengaluru)
 ((Neeshita.Beura@thomsonreuters.com))