UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 30

Unilever

30/04/2026 06:01

April 30 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening lower on Thursday, with futuresFFIc1 down 0.24%.

* BP: BP BP.L will develop Venezuela's Cocuina-Manakin gas field, on the maritime border with Trinidad and Tobago, as well as explore joint opportunities in the offshore Loran gas field, the company and government said on Wednesday.

* FCA: The Bank of England has raised concerns over plans by the Financial Conduct Authority to cut the capital requirements of specialist trading firms such as Citadel Securities, Jane Street and Hudson River Trading, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

* AUTO: UK automotive production fell 8.2% in March from a year earlier, hit by a slump in commercial vehicle output, parts shortages at a major plant and weaker exports to Asia and the United States, data from a trade body showed on Thursday.

* ECONOMY: British businesses' confidence about the economic outlook fell this month by the most since April 2020 although their assessment of their own prospects was less downbeat, a survey by Lloyds showed on Thursday.

* EX-DIVS: Weir Group WEIR.L will trade without entitlement to its latest dividend payout on Thursday.

* COMMODITIES: Oil prices rose on Thursday, while gold prices rebounded, and  copper prices drifted higher.

* FTSE: British shares drifted lower on Wednesday as investors parsed a mixed bag of corporate earnings.

* UK CORPORATE DIARY:

Unilever
ULVR.L
Q1 trading update
Glencore
GLEN.L
Q1 production report
Persimmon
PSN.L
Trading update
Whitbread
WTB.L
FY results
Beazley
BEZG.L
Q1 Trading Statement
Weir Group
WEIR.L
Q1 management update
Inchcape
INCH.L
Q1 trading update
Lancashire Holdings
LRE.L
Q1 trading update
Evoke
EVOK.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 Roshni Srivastava in Bengaluru)

((roshni.srivastava@thomsonreuters.com))