UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on March 26

Mon, 26th Mar 2018 07:43

March 26 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening 22points lower at 6,900 on Monday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures0.1 percent lower ahead of the cash market open.

* ROLLS-ROYCE: Britain's Rolls-Royce said its Trent 7000 engineswhich power the Airbus A330neo jet are not affected by the issues with the Trent1000 engine, some of which have needed unscheduled maintenance as the turbineblades have worn out more quickly than expected.

* JD SPORTS: British sports and fashion retailer JD Sports Fashionsaid on Monday it has agreed to buy U.S. firm The Finish Line, Inc for $558million (396 million pounds), boosting its presence in the world's largestsportswear market.

* DANA/GKN: Auto components maker Dana Inc said on Monday it hadagreed to increase its offer for GKN's Driveline business by $140million in cash as it stepped up its efforts to fight off rival suitor Melrose.

* SPEEDY HIRE: Industrial equipment rental company Speedy Hire Plcsaid on Monday its expects full-year adjusted pretax profit to be ahead ofexpectations.

* BP: Algeria plans to offer tax incentives in a planned new energy law toattract more investment and is in discussion with foreign energy firms includingBP and Anadarko to exploit its shale gas reserves, officials saidon Sunday.

* BHP: The union representing workers at Chilean copper mine Escondida haveaccepted an invitation from management to "explore" early talks aimed atclinching a collective bargaining agreement, the union's President PatricioTapia said on Saturday.

* SHELL: Activist shareholders in Royal Dutch Shell are preparing arenewed push for the company to adopt more ambitious goals for tackling climatechange, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.(https://on.ft.com/2pFMvbD)

* Provident Financial: Aberdeen Standard has sued Provident Financialin Vanquis credit card dispute, The Times reported onMonday.

* BRITAIN FINANCE: The prospect of quitting the EU has hurt sentiment inBritain's finance industry for longer than the global financial crisis thatplunged economies into recession and destroyed some of the world's biggestbanks, a survey found on Monday.

* GOLD: Gold prices rose to a five-week high on Monday as the threat of atrade war between the United States and China weighed on the dollar and equitymarkets, driving investors to seek refuge in safe-haven assets.

* OIL: Oil prices reversed earlier gains on Monday as concerns of a loomingtrade dispute between the United States and China weighed on globalmarkets.

* The UK blue chip FTSE 100 index ended the session 0.4 percentlower at 6,921.94 point on Friday, as mounting fears of a global trade war afterthe U.S. slapped tariffs on imports from China sent stocks to a 15-monthlow.

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times

> Other business headlinesMultimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for:* 3000 Xtra : visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com* For Top News : http://topnews.reuters.com(Reporting by Siju Varghese)