UK Stocks-Factors to watch on May 2

Man

02/05/2025 05:54

May 2 - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening higher on Friday, with futuresFFIc1 up 0.61%.

* HARRODS: London department store Harrods said hackers attempted to break into its systems, the third high-profile cyber attack on a UK retailer in two weeks, following incidents at Marks & Spencer MKS.L and the Co-op Group 42TE.L.

* STANDARD CHARTERED: Standard Chartered STAN.L reported a 10% rise in first-quarter profit, above market estimates, as strong wealth, markets and global banking businesses, boosted revenue.

* MAN GROUP: Man Group's EMG.L multi-strategy fund returned a positive result in April, a month that saw markets whipsawed by U.S. tariff announcements.

* SSP GROUP: Activist investor Irenic Capital Management has built a stake of around 2% in SSP, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

* OIL: Oil prices pulled ahead in early Asian hours on hopes of a de-escalation in trade war between the U.S. and China.

* GOLD: Gold prices were poised for their worst weekly performance in more than two months as receding trade tensions tempered safe-haven demand.

* METALS: Copper prices rose in London on hopes for progress in U.S. tariff talks with top consumer China.

* The UK blue-chip index .FTSE closed flat on Thursday as investors assessed a mixed bag of corporate earnings, amid hopes of easing trade tensions.

* UK CORPORATE DIARY:

Shell
SHEL.L
Q1 Earnings Release
NatWest
NWG.L
Q1 Earnings Release
Pearson
PSON.L
Q1 Trading Update
Apax Global Alpha
APAX.L
Q1 Earnings Release

* 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 Simone Lobo in Bengaluru)

 ((Simone.Lobo@thomsonreuters.com; +919920570373;))