(Adds futures, updates news items)
Dec 17 - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is expected to open 1 point lower
at 7,518 on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures FFIc1
down 0.2% ahead of the cash market open.
* UNILEVER PLC: Consumer goods giant Unilever Plc ULVR.L said it expects
sales growth in 2019 to be slightly below its prior expectations, citing tough
trading conditions in West Africa and a slowdown in south Asia. * PETROFAC LTD: Oilfield services provider Petrofac Ltd PFC.L guided to a
more than 5% fall in full-year revenue, with delays in bidding processes
constricting order intake in its biggest segment during the second half.
* TED BAKER: Ted Baker's TED.L non-executive director Ron Stewart has left
the company after nine years, the troubled fashion retailer said, a week after
the departure of its CEO and chairman. * BANKS: The Bank of England said on Monday it planned to adjust the rules
on how much capital British banks must hold, to allow them to keep lending in an
economic crisis and also said the unrest in Hong Kong led to as much as $5
billion of capital outflow from investment funds in the Asian financial hub
since April. * BOEING SUPPLIERS/AIRLINES: Boeing Co BA.N said on Monday it would
suspend production of its best-selling 737 MAX jetliner in January, its biggest
assembly-line halt in more than 20 years, as fallout from two fatal crashes of
the now-grounded aircraft drags into 2020. * GSK: GlaxoSmithKline GSK.L said on Monday it had applied for U.S.
approval for its experimental multiple myeloma drug that showed meaningful
response in nearly a third of patients, setting up a battle against Johnson &
Johnson JNJ.N and Genmab's Darzalex. * IAG: British Airways pilots have voted to accept an agreement to end a
dispute over pay which resulted in the first walkout by pilots in the airline's
history, the British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA) said on Monday.
* GOLD: Gold prices were rangebound on Tuesday, as lack of concrete details
about the interim U.S.-China trade deal kept investors from making firm bets.
* OIL: Oil prices climbed higher as investors kept the faith with hopes that
a fully fledged U.S.-China trade deal is in the pipeline, set to stoke oil
demand in the world's biggest economies.
* The UK blue chip index soared 2.3% on Monday, its biggest one-day
percentage gain in nearly a year, as a preliminary U.S.-China trade deal and
hopes of an orderly Brexit after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's election
victory saw investors flock to perceived riskier assets, such as equities.
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
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