April 23 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening 25
points lower at 5,746 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers.
* ROYAL DUTCH SHELL: Royal Dutch Shell has postponed decisions on
whether to go ahead with two large oil and gas developments in the Gulf of
Mexico and North Sea after oil prices collapsed due to the coronavirus crisis, a
company source said on Wednesday.
* Currency service provider Travelex has put itself up for sale,
the London-based company said on Wednesday, a month after parent Finablr warned
that it was preparing for a potential insolvency.
* Telecom Italia (TIM) and Vodafone said on Wednesday they had
agreed to launch the sale of an 8% stake in Italy's biggest mobile tower company
INWIT on a pro-rata basis as part of their efforts to cut debt.
* GOLD: Gold eased on Thursday as investors booked profits from a near 2%
rally in the previous session, while U.S. stimulus measures to ease the economic
blow from the coronavirus outbreak limited losses and kept prices above $1,700
an ounce.
* OIL: Oil extended gains on Thursday amid signs that producers are cutting
production to cope with a collapse in demand for fuel as the coronavirus
outbreak ravages the world's economies.
* EX-DIVS: Intercontinental Hotels, Mondi, Melrose
, Phoenix Group Holdings, Standard Life Aberdeen, Smith
& Nephew and Taylor Wimpey will trade without entitlement to its latest
dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 5.05 points off the FTSE 100 according to
Reuters calculations.
* The UK blue-chip index closed up 2.3% on Wednesday a 6% rally in
energy majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell and positive corporate updates injected
calm into equity markets after an oil-driven rout.
* UK CORPORATE DIARY:
NMCN Plc FY 2019 earnings release
RDI Reit Plc HY 2020 earnings release
Luceco Plc FY 2019 earnings release
Alfa Financial Software FY 2019 earnings release
Anglo American Plc Q1 2020 production report
Meggitt Plc Q1 2020 trading statement
MPH SE Q1 2020 pre-close trading statement
Unilever Plc Q1 2020 trading statement
Relx Plc Q1 2020 trading statement
Taylor Wimpey Trading statement
Tullow Oil Trading statement
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times
> Other business headlines
(Reporting by Samantha Machado in Bengaluru)
