UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Nov. 30

By Reuters / November 30, 2016 / in.investing.com / Article Link

Nov 30 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening about 2 points lower, or almost flat in percentage terms on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers.

* The UK blue chip index closed down 0.4 percent on Tuesday at 6,772, underperforming other European markets as energy and mining stocks were hit by weaker oil and metals prices. BP: Mexico hopes to award at least four of the 10 deep water oil blocks due to be auctioned next week, plus the farm-out on its Trion field, Energy Minister Pedro Joaquin Coldwell said on Tuesday. British oil major BP BP.L is one of the companies pre-qualified to bid on the initial deep water tenders on Dec. 5. SKY: Sky SKYB.L said it would enter the UK mobile market with a SIM-only deal that allows data allowances to roll over each month, and offers free calls to the 11 million British households that take its TV services. SMITHS GROUP: George Buckley, chairman of engineering company Smiths Group SMIN.L , was approached about replacing Cyrus Mistry, who was removed as chairman of Tata Sons TATAS.UL last month, Sky News reported on Tuesday. VODAFONE: A cyber attack that infected nearly 1 million routers used to access Deutsche Telekom DTEGn.DE internet service was part of a campaign targeting web-connected devices around the globe, the German government and security researchers said on Tuesday. Vodafone Group Plc VOD.L uses routers that were vulnerable to similar attacks, a cyber security researcher said. UK CONSUMER CONFIDENCE: Confidence among British consumers fell in November to its lowest level since just after voters decided in June to leave the European Union as worries about the economy grew, a survey showed on Wednesday. BREXIT: Brexit-related tariffs would add at least 4.5 billion pounds ($5.6 billion) a year to the cost of car imports and exports between Britain and the European Union, industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said, urging Britain to remain in the single market after it leaves the EU. OIL: Oil markets edged up in nervous trading on Wednesday ahead of an OPEC meeting later in the day, with members of the producer cartel trying to thrash out an output cut to curb oversupply that has seen prices more than halve since 2014. METALS: Shanghai metals came under heavy selling pressure on Wednesday, with zinc, copper and lead down more than five percent as worries about a cash crunch in China were compounded by ShFE measures to curb a searing rally in steel. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets

* UK CORPORATE DIARY:

Findel PLC

FDL.L

Half Year 2016 Earnings Zoopla Property Group PLC

ZPLAZ.L

Full Year 2016 Earnings Sanderson Group PLC

SND.L

Full Year 2016 Earnings Sage Group PLC

SGE.L

Full Year 2016 Earnings Greene King PLC

GNK.L

Half Year 2017 Earnings Brewin Dolphin Holdings