(Adds futures, news items)
May 5 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen
opening 73 points higher on Tuesday, according to financial
bookmakers, with futures FFIc1 up 1.5% ahead of cash market
open.
* WIZZ AIR: Hungarian low cost airline Wizz Air WIZZ.L
said its passenger numbers plunged 98% in April compared to the
same month last year as the novel coronavirus halted most flying
across Europe. * TRADE DEAL: The top U.S. business lobby on Monday urged
Britain to conclude a bilateral trade deal with the European
Union as quickly as possible to remove uncertainty that is
limiting investment flows and could pose risks to its trade
talks with the United States. * SHELL: Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp SHLPH.PS , a unit
of Shell RDSa.L , said it will shut down its
110,000-barrel-per-day Tabangao refinery in the Philippines for
one month from mid-May as the COVID-19 pandemic has hammered oil
demand. * MANUFACTURING: Small British manufacturers expect the
biggest fall in output in more than 30 years over the next three
months as the hit from the new coronavirus intensifies,
according to a survey which echoes other gloomy forecasts for
the sector. * CAR SALES: British new car sales slumped by around 97% in
April to the lowest level of any month since February 1946, with
factories and dealerships shut due to the outbreak, according to
preliminary data from an industry body. * GOLD: Gold prices edged lower as moves by some countries
to relax coronavirus restrictions reduced the metal's safe-haven
appeal, even though markets remained wary of souring relations
between China and the United States. GOL/
* OIL: Oil prices rose on Tuesday, extending gains from the
previous session, on expectations that fuel demand will begin to
recover as some U.S. states and nations in Europe and Asia start
to ease coronavirus lockdown measures. O/R
* Britain's FTSE 100 closed lower on Monday, as tensions
between the United States and China over the origins of the new
coronavirus outweighed support from drugmakers and oil firms.
For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please
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TODAY'S UK PAPERS
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