UK Stocks-Factors to watch on May 1

Pearson

01/05/2026 06:13

May 1 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening flat on Friday, with futures FFIc1 down 0.03%.

* ASTRAZENECA: A panel of outside experts to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted against backing the risk-benefit profile of AstraZeneca's AZN.L breast cancer drug camizestrant, the company said on Thursday.

*  BRITISH AIRWAYS: British Airways pilots narrowly rejected the IAG-owned carrier's proposal to overhaul their pay, Sky News reported on Thursday.

* TARIFFS: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was lifting tariffs on whiskey from the United Kingdom.

*  RETAIL SALES: British discretionary retail like-for-like sales slid 1.6% year-on-year in April, their weakest April performance in a decade outside the pandemic, data from accountancy and business advisory firm BDO showed on Friday.

* COMMODITIES: Oil rose on Friday, while gold was steady in thin trading, and copper prices climbed.

* FTSE: London's FTSE 100 index rose on Thursday, with upbeat results from Rolls-Royce and Glencore bolstering sentiment.

* UK CORPORATE DIARY:

NatWest
NWG.L
Q1 results
Pearson
PSON.L
Q1 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 Roshni Srivastava in Bengaluru)

 ((roshni.srivastava@thomsonreuters.com))