UK Stocks -- Factors to watch on June 1
LONDON, June 1 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 59 to 61 points higher on Monday, according to financial bookmakers, tracking gains in Asia as evidence mounted that the worst of the global downturn may be over.
The UK benchmark is seen gaining as much as 1.4 percent on open after it rose 4.1 percent last month -- its third monthly rise in a row and the longest winning streak in two years. The index closed up 30.40 points, or 0.7 percent higher at 4,417.94 on Friday. Confidence that the struggling global economy may have turned a corner rose as China's official purchasing managers index stayed above the 50 level, which separates expansion from contraction, for a third straight month.
This helped lift the Nikkei 225 .N225 1.6 percent, while the MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS jumped 2.2 percent to its highest since October.
Energy and mining stocks are set to be among the biggest supports to the index, with metal prices firmly higher and crude motoring past $67 per barrel.
House prices in England and Wales were unchanged in May, the first time in 20 months that there has been no month-on-mongh decline, property data company Hometrack said. [ID:nLAG003461]
In the U.S., officials said that General Motors Corp (GM.N) will file for
bankruptcy on Monday, forcing the 100-year-old automaker once seen as a symbol of
American economic might and dynamism into a new and uncertain era of government
ownership. [ID:nN31495007]
Investors will watch manufacturing PMI data for May at 0828 GMT for more clues on the state of the UK economy.
* Japan's Nikkei up after news GM to go bankrupt [ID:nTKU105389]
* Commodity shares, Coca-Cola lift Wall Street [ID:nN29439922]
* Asia stocks, Aussie dollar gain on China PMI [ID:nSP46540]
* Dollar loses footing as investors branch out [ID:nT122504]
* Treasuries-Bonds rebound strongly into month end [ID:nL1348112]
* Oil jumps 1 pct, basking in equities' glow [ ID:nSP429646]
* Gold hits 3-month high; $1,000 eyed [ID:nT329198]
* Metal prices rally; China data, dlr lift sentiment [ID:nSP429585]
UK stocks to watch on Monday are:
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL (RDSa.L)
The oil giant plans to cut 350-450 senior management roles as it restructures to cut costs and improve its operational performance according to a website to which Shell employees post internal information. [ID:nLU499375 ]
ASTRAZENECA (AZN.L)
The pharmaceutical giant's Zactima, which failed two earlier trials, was shown in a pivotal study to extend the amount of tme patients survived without their lung cancer worsening, researchers said on Saturday. [ID:nN30385063]
RIO TINTO (RIO.L)
The global miner has agreed to extend the deadline by which major Chinese shareholder Chinalco must confirm whether it will help fund the planned expansion of Rio Tinto's Yarwun 2 Alumina refinery. [ID:nSYU006609]
BANKS
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is fostering uncertainty in the City by not revealing the full results of its stress tests on banks, British shadow chancellor George Osborne wrote in the Financial Times.
CADBURY (CBRY.L)
The confectionery giant is looking to build on its dominant position in India's chocolate market by making the country a regional centre for cocoa production, the Financial Times said. The UK group wants to source all of its cocoa beans domestically by 2015, hoping to increase national output from 10,000 tonnes to 150,000 tonnes a year by 2020.
INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS (IHG.L)
Holiday Inn, part of the InterContinental Hotels Group, has signed up as the official hotel sponsor for the London Olympics in 2012, the Financial Times said. The deal will cost about 10 million pounds.
BARCLAYS (BARC.L)
Ethan Harris, the co-chief economist at Barclays Plc's (BARC.L) Barclays Capital unit is leaving the investment bank for Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), people close to the decision said on Friday.
ANGLO AMERICAN AA.L
The miner said it is withdrawing from its Big Hill project.
TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times [PRESS/FT]
> Other business headlines [PRESS/GB]
(Reporting by Simon Falush)
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