UK Stocks-Factors to watch on March 19 (updated)

Fusion Pharmaceuticals

19/03/2024 07:44

(Adds news items, updates futures)
       March 19 - Britain's FTSE 100  .FTSE  index is seen
opening up on Tuesday, with futures  FFIc1  up 0.14%.
    
    * ASTRAZENECA: AstraZeneca  AZN.L  said it will buy
clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Fusion Pharmaceuticals
Inc  FUSN.O  for about $2 billion in cash to boost its oncology
portfolio.
        * UNILEVER: Unilever  ULVR.L  plans to spin off its ice
cream unit, home to popular brands such as Magnum and Ben &
Jerry's, into a standalone business, as it announced a new
cost-savings programme that would impact 7,500 
    jobs
    .
  
        * DIAGEO: Diageo  DGE.L  named former British senior
civil servant John Manzoni as its next 
    chair
    , replacing Javier Ferran who is retiring in February 2025.
  
    * NATIONAL GRID: Britain's National Grid  NG.L  has proposed
a 58-billion pound ($74-billion) investment programme to boost
grid networks beyond 2030 to accommodate expected growth in
electricity demand and an increase in renewable power projects.
    * NATWEST: NatWest  NWG.L  will seek shareholder approval to
buy back up to 15% of its stock from the UK government, it said,
as part of efforts to speed up privatisation of the lender
bailed out at the height of the 2007-9 financial crisis.
    * OIL: Oil prices dipped due in part to the prospect of
rising supply from Russia, slower-than-expected downstream
demand in sectors such as jet fuel, and cautious trading ahead
of the Fed's decision on U.S. interest rates.
    * METALS: Most base metals fell slightly, pressured by a
stronger dollar, making greenback-priced metals more expensive
to holders of other currencies.
    
        
  
    * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please
click on:  LIVE/     
    TODAY'S UK PAPERS
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 (Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak
Dasgupta)
 ((Prerna.Bedi@thomsonreuters.com; +91 98052 24616))