June 5(Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen
opening higher on Friday, with futures FFIc1 up 0.7%.
* CONSUMERS: British consumer confidence in late May fell to
its lowest in over a decade as COVID-19 hit the economy, a
survey showed. * RETAIL: UK retail sales dived 18% in May as the
coronavirus lockdown measures kept shopping streets empty, a
survey showed. * LABOUR: UK labour market's sharp slide continued into May,
a survey showed. * SHELL: Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L and Murphy Oil Corp
MUR.N began evacuating non-essential workers from the U.S.
Gulf of Mexico on Thursday due to a storm. * ASTRAZENECA: AstraZeneca AZN.L has doubled manufacturing
capacity for its potential coronavirus vaccine to 2 billion
doses in two deals involving Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates
that guarantee early supply to lower income countries.
* IAG: The boss of British Airways said its parent company
IAG ICAG.L was burning through 178 million pounds a week and
could not guarantee its survival, prompting him to urge unions
to engage over 12,000 job cuts. * STOBART: Stobart STOB.L said on Thursday it would exit
its rail and civil engineering business this fiscal year under a
plan to offset a hit from the coronavirus crisis. * GOLD: Gold eased ahead of a highly awaited U.S. jobs
report as markets pinned hopes on an economic recovery. GOL/
* OIL: Oil prices nudged higher as traders await cues from a
meeting that could take place as soon as this weekend where
major oil producers will discuss whether to extend record
production cuts. O/R
* UK shares hit their highest in nearly three-months on
Thursday on bets of a rebound in post-coronavirus economic
activity. UK CORPORATE DIARY:
Workspace Plc WKP.L FY results
Biffa Plc BIFF.L FY results
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please
click on: LIVE/
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