(Adds company news items)
June 18 - Britain's FTSE 100 futures FFIc1 fell 0.53% on Thursday, before
cash markets open.
* TESCO: British supermarket group Tesco TSCO.L said it was selling its
Polish business for 819 million zlotys ($206.52 million), leaving it focused on
the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. * NOVACYT: Healthcare and clinical diagnostics company Novacyt ALNOV.PA ,
NCYT.L , whose shares have surged on the back of its COVID-19 testing products,
announced the launch of three new products to support testing for the presence
of the virus. * LLOYD'S OF LONDON: The Lloyd's of London insurance market has apologised
for its role in the 18th and 19th Century Atlantic slave trade. * TAYLOR WIMPEY: Builder Taylor Wimpey TW.L on Thursday raised about 522
million pounds ($655.16 million) in a discounted share sale, about 22 million
pounds more than it had planned. * OIL: Oil prices fell around 1% as a spike in new cases of the novel
coronavirus in China and the United States renewed fears that a recovery in fuel
demand could stall. * GOLD: Gold prices were steady, with the metal caught between a
strengthening U.S. dollar and a pullback in global equities. * METAL: London copper fell, as rising coronavirus cases in top consumer
China's capital city sparked worries of another round of lockdown. * The UK blue-chip index .FTSE closed up 0.2% on Wednesday, as a series of
upbeat corporate earnings bolstered hopes of an economic recovery. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
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($1 = 0.7967 pounds)