UK Stocks-Factors to watch on October 28

Unilever

Wed 06:00

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening down on Wednesday, with futures FFIc1 down 0.2%. 
     
*STANDARD CHARTERED: Standard Chartered (StanChart) STAN.L on Wednesday hiked its income and profitability targets after third-quarter profit handily beat estimates with robust performances from its wealth and global markets divisions.
* UK BUDGET: British finance minister John Healey is set to announce a cautious budget plan on Wednesday as he tries to avoid piling more bond market pressure on the new government of Prime Minister Andy Burnham. 
* INDIVIDUAL SAVINGS ACCOUNT: British finance minister John Healey is to use his Wednesday budget to scrap plans to slash the annual cash Individual Savings Account (ISA) allowance from £20,000 ($26,626.00) to £12,000, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
* UK'S GAS: British finance minister John Healey plans to cut household gas bills by up to £50 ($66.57) in his first budget to be announced on Wednesday, the Telegraph reported on Tuesday.
* THAMES WATER: Global ratings agency S&P downgraded Thames Water Utilities by a notch to "CCC-" on Tuesday, saying the UK water supplier's plans to extend debt maturities and increase borrowing under a super senior facility reflected a distressed financial position.
* COMMODITIES: Oil prices rose, Gold prices ticked lower and Aluminium rose on Wednesday
* FTSE 100: Britain's FTSE 100 underperformed European peers on Tuesday, weighed down by HSBC after it missed quarterly revenue estimates, while investors stayed cautious ahead of the government's budget.
     
* UK CORPORATE DIARY: 
Unilever
ULVR.L 
Q3 trading update
GSK
GSK.L 
Q3 results
Aston Martin
AML.L 
Q3 results
Intertek
ITRK.L 
Q3 trading update
S4 Capital
SFOR.L 
Q3 trading update
Elementis
ELM.L 
Q3 trading update
Hunting
HTG.L
Q3 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 Tuhina in Bengaluru)
 ((tuhina@thomsonreuters.com))