UK Stocks-Factors to watch on August 20
UK Stocks-Factors to watch on August 20 Aug 20 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening flat on Thursday, with futures FFIc1 largely unchanged.
* STANDARD CHARTERED: Standard Chartered STAN.L is helping its wealth management clients deploy a portion of their assets to hedge funds to better cushion the impact of heightened market volatility, a top executive said.
* OIL: Oil prices steadied in early trade as investors assessed the outlook for the U.S.-Iran war and the security of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
* GOLD: Gold fell as investors booked profits after prices climbed to a more-than-two-month peak following a surprise U.S. Treasury liquidity-support announcement for long-duration bonds that weakened the dollar and pushed Treasury yields lower.
* METALS: Copper edged down but held above the psychological $14,000-a-metric ton level, as higher inventories on the London Metal Exchange (LME) relieved supply concerns and offset support from sharp falls in the dollar.
* EX-DIVS: InterContinental Hotels Group IHG.L, Centrica CNA.L, ConvaTec CTEC.L, Mondi MNDI.L, Entain ENT.L will trade without entitlement to its latest dividend pay-out on Thursday.
* FTSE: London shares edged higher on Wednesday after an in-line inflation report did little to alter interest rate expectations, while surging gold prices lifted mining stocks.
* UK CORPORATE DIARY:
JD Sports | JD.L | Q2 trading statement |
Hays | HAYS.L | FY results |
* 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))