(Adds futures, news items)
April 13 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is
seen opening 10 points higher at 6,899 on Tuesday, according to
financial bookmakers, while futures FFIc1 were down 0.3% ahead
of the cash market open.
* JD SPORTS: JD Sports JD.L forecast higher profit in 2022
after reporting a rise in annual profit in the last financial
year as some stores reopened this week and online sales
continued to surge. * PLUS500: Plus500 Ltd PLUSP.L on Tuesday reported a
plunge in core earnings and revenue for the first quarter,
struggling to match up to a tough comparative from last year
when market volatility shot up due to the pandemic selloff.
* ECONOMY: Britain's economy grew by 0.4% in February from
January as companies got ready for the lifting of a third
coronavirus lockdown, official data showed. * HAYS: Hays Plc HAYS.L forecast annual profit ahead of
market expectations after a strong pick up in hiring activity in
March in Germany, Australia, UK and Asia. * ASTRAZENECA: Australia said a second person had been
diagnosed with a blood clot after receiving the AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN)
AZN.L vaccine but there had been no rise in inoculation
cancellations. * DELIVEROO/SAINSBURY'S: Food delivery group Deliveroo
ROO.L and supermarket Sainsbury 's SBRY.L said they had
expanded a grocery delivery trial to around 100 stores across
Britain under a new two-year contract. * MODERNA VACCINE: England will start using the Moderna
MRNA.O vaccine on Tuesday, which will be used at over 20 sites
this week as the third shot that is available in Britain for
COVID-19. * CONSUMERS: British high street retailers reported higher
spending in March compared with both a year earlier and before
the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, ahead of a reopening of
non-essential stores in April. * COVID-19 VARIANT: A highly contagious variant of COVID-19
first identified in Britain does not cause more severe disease
in hospitalised patients, according to a new study published in
the medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases on Monday.
* HSBC: HSBC HSBA.L has banned customers of its online
share-trading platform from buying or moving into their accounts
MicroStrategy Inc MSTR.O stock, a message seen by Reuters
showed, calling it a "virtual currency product". * GOLD: Gold prices were flat as market participants kept to
the sidelines ahead of U.S. inflation data that is expected to
shed more light on recovery in the world's largest economy.
* OIL: Oil prices climbed as data from China showed the
world's second largest oil consumer's import growth surging and
on tensions in the Middle East after the Yemen-based Houthi
movement said it fired missiles on Saudi oil sites. * London's FTSE 100 ended lower on Monday, as heavyweight
mining stocks slipped amid a drop in metal prices and a stronger
pound weighed on the export-heavy index. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please
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