UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Jan. 2

(Adds company news items and futures)
Jan 2 - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening up 25 points to
7,568 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures gaining 0.2%
ahead of cash markets open.
* TULLOW OIL: Africa-focused oil producer Tullow TLW.L said its Spanish
partner Repsol REP.MC had struck crude oil in a new well offshore Guyana, in
promising news for a project which has become increasingly important to the
London-listed firm. * HSBC: HSBC HSBA.L , 0005.HK is being drawn into Hong Kong's political
turmoil, with protesters attacking some of its branches and graffiti daubed on
the famous pair of lions that guard its city-centre headquarters. * GSK: Drugmakers including Pfizer Inc PFE.N , GlaxoSmithKline PLC GSK.L
and Sanofi SA SASY.PA are planning to hike U.S. list prices on more than 200
drugs in the United States on Wednesday, according to drugmakers and data
analyzed by healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors. * VAPING: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his
administration would be unveiling a decision shortly on vaping, and said certain
flavors would still come off the market but hopefully then return soon.
* BREXIT: Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would bring his divided
nation back together next year when Britain leaves the European Union, telling
Britons they were set for a "fantastic year and a remarkable decade".
* LLOYDS BANKING GROUP: Britain's Lloyds Banking Group LLOY.L suffered an
outage on Wednesday that left customers of its Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of
Scotland operations unable to access accounts online for several hours.
* OIL: Oil prices kicked off the new year higher as warming trade relations
between the United States and China eased demand concerns, while rising tensions
in the Middle East fuelled worries about supply. * GOLD: Gold prices edged higher as the dollar hovered near a six-month low
hit on New Year's Eve amid bets U.S. economic outperformance could be coming to
an end. * The UK blue-chip index .FTSE closed down 0.6% on Tuesday, as traders
booked year-end profits after the index's best run in three years and as a
stronger pound hit shares of exporter firms such as BAT BATS.L and AstraZeneca
AZN.L lower. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
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