UK Stocks -- Factors to watch on May 12

LONDON, May 12 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index
is seen opening 2 to 6 points lower on Monday, financial
bookmakers said, having ended the previous session down 66.1
points, or 1.1 percent at 6,204.7.

Wall Street fell on Friday as the price of oil set another
record and concerns about the financial sector flared up again
after American International Group Inc (AIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a
massive loss.

Asian stocks fell on Monday, weighed down by uncertainty
over the health of the U.S. economy and surging oil and
commodity prices, while Japanese exporters felt the pinch from a
stronger yen.

Amid a quiet economic agenda, investors will eye UK PPI data
for April, due at 0830 GMT.

"European equity markets look set to start the new week flat
to marginally higher after a relatively uneventful end to the
week on Wall Street," a trader said.

"However scope for early volatility in London trade
shouldn't be ruled out with the release of the UK PPI data for
April scheduled this morning."

* Nikkei up as yen retreats, exporters rise [nT24231]
* Dlr gains on more signs of global growth slowing [nT226563]
* TREASURIES-Rise in Asia, focus on equities and data [nT25671]
* Asian stocks sag on economic uncertainty [nSP235049]
* Oil above $126, Middle East violence supports [nSYD198497]
* AIG's loss and record oil sour mood on Wall St [nN09500781]
* Gold down, reverses gains as dollar recovers [nT224917]

UK stocks to watch on Monday are:

HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), ALLIANCE & LEICESTER (ALLL.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), BARCLAYS
(BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

HSBC is due to release its pre-close first-half trading
update.

HSBC, Alliance & Leicester and Barclays will report
investment writedowns totalling more than four billion pounds
this week, The Times reported.

The paper said HSBC is expected to write down up to five
billion dollars on Monday due to the continuing toll the credit
crunch is taking on its American unit.

A&L will report on Wednesday with analysts predicting
pre-tax writedowns of around 200 million pounds, while Barclays
will deliver its update on Thursday, with around 1.4 billion
pounds of writedowns expected, the Times added.

BRITISH ENERGY (BGY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

Despite the auction for British Energy attracting interest
only from EDF (EDF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) by last Friday's deadline, the government
has ruled out selling the company to a lone bidder, The Daily
Telegraph reported.

The government, which owns 35.2 percent of BE, is holding
firm on its decision that no one body should have full ownership
of Britain's nuclear reactors, the paper added.

Separately, Spanish utility Iberdrola (IBE.MC: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) did not make
an offer for British Energy by a deadline on Friday but has not
ruled out a future offer, an industry source said. [ID:nWLB1355]

DIAGEO (DGE.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

The Guinness brewer denied a report on Sunday that it had
held talks with the Irish government about moving the British
drinks giant's headquarters to Ireland to benefit from lower
corporation tax rates. [ID:nL11204490]

KAZAKHMYS (KAZ.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

The mining group is expected to look at ways of offloading
its 15 percent stake in ENRC (ENRC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) after rejecting its
domestic rival's takeover proposal last week, reported the Daily
Telegraph.

DSG International (DSGI.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

The owner of Dixons, Currys and PC World is expected to
slash its dividend and announce a wave of store closures and
jobs cuts this week in an attempt to regain its dominance in
Britain's electricals market, reported the Daily Telegrah.

VODAFONE (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

The world's largest mobile phone group by revenue, has no
intention of pursuing a bid for the South African company MTN
(MTNJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), a spokesman said on Sunday. [ID:nBOM176247]

Vodafone is pinning its African hopes on winning control of
Vodacom after deciding against a bid for the continent's biggest
mobile operator, MTN, reported the Daily Mail.

BRITISH AIRWAYS (BA) (BAY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

The airline is seeking to fill a new role of chief
operations officer to replace two executives who quit in the
wake of the Heathrow Terminal 5 fiasco. [ID:nL11129412]

Separately, the board of BA will meet this week to decide
whether Chief Executive Willie Walsh should be awarded a
performance bonus of more than 600,000 pounds, the Guardian
reported.

VODAFONE (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), BSKYB (BSY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) CARPHONE WAREHOUSE (CPW.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz),
BT (BT.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

Broadband operator Tiscali (TIS.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) should have received
offers from six bidders, Milano Finanza reported on Saturday.
They are Vodafone Group, Carphone Warehouse Group, British Sky
Broadcasting Group, Fastweb SpA (FWB.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), BT Group and Italy's
Wind, it said.

Vodafone and another company would have offered to buy the
entire company, while the others are interested only in British
or Italian assets, Milano Finanza said. Tiscali's board will
meet on Monday and the company releases first-quarter results.

BT GROUP (BT.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

BT is in talks to sell its British data centres to the U.S.
computer firm Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for 1.5 billion pounds
($2.93 billion), the Sunday Times reported. [ID:nL11106586]

CENTRICA (CNA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

The firm is due to release a trading update and hold its
AGM.

Accenture, the consultancy, has described as "baseless and
without merit" a 182 million pounds claim from British Gas over
the disastrous introduction of its new billing system, reported
the Financial Times.

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

The oil major has pulled out of a planned gas project in
Iran, after coming under pressure not to participate from U.S.
lawmakers who were concerned about Iran's nuclear programme.
[nL10484165]

HISCOX (HSX.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

The firm is due to release its Q1 trading update.

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times [PRESS/FT]

> Other business headlines [PRESS/GB]
(Reporting by Rebekah Curtis; Editing by Louise Ireland)