UK Stocks-Factors to watch on February 2

WH Smith

02/02/2026 05:01

Feb 2 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index seen opening lower on Monday, with futures FFIc1 down 0.55%.

* RIO TINTO: Australia's Rio Tinto RIO.L, RIO.AX and Britain's Glencore GLEN.L will seek more time to work on a deal to create the world's biggest miner, Bloomberg News reported.

* BP: United Steelworkers members at BP's BP.L 440,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Whiting, Indiana, agreed to a rolling 24-hour contract extension at the largest refinery in the U.S. Midwest, the company said.

* THAMES WATER: Britain's Thames Water is edging closer to a 16 billion-pound rescue deal with its lenders that would keep the ailing utility out of temporary public ownership, Sky News reported.

* BEN & JERRY'S: Directors removed from Ben & Jerry's independent board have challenged The Magnum Ice Cream Company's MICCT.AS plans to appoint new directors, accusing it of corporate overreach, a U.S. court filing showed.

* BUSINESS SENTIMENT: British entrepreneurs' negativity about the economic outlook reduced at the start of 2026, after finance minister Rachel Reeves' November budget imposed fewer immediate tax rises than feared.

* PAY: British businesses are most likely planning to raise pay this year by between 3% and 3.49%, according to a survey, slightly more than some Bank of England policymakers are comfortable with as they seek to return inflation to target.

* COMMODITIES: Oil prices fell 4%, copper continued to pull back for a second straight session, and gold also extended its fall.

* FTSE: London's FTSE 100 rose on Friday, capping its seventh straight month of gains, lifted by a rally in banking stocks and a weaker pound as investors assessed the appointment of Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

* UK CORPORATE DIARY:

WH Smith
SMWH.L
AGM

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: LIVE/

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(Compiled by Neeshita Beura in Bengaluru)

((Neeshita.Beura@thomsonreuters.com))