(Adds company news items and futures)
May 15 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen
opening higher on Friday, with futures up 0.96% ahead of cash
markets open.
* CANARY WHARF: London's Canary Wharf has drawn up detailed
plans to bring bankers, accountants and lawyers back to the
financial district as the COVID-19 pandemic eases, the Financial
Times reported on Friday. * PETROFAC: Petrofac Ltd PFC.L warned on Friday it was now
assuming most new projects would be delayed until 2021 due to
coronavirus-led supply chain disruptions and travel
restrictions, and was taking steps to conserve cash and ride out
the storm. * ABBOTT: Britain has given the green light to Abbott
Laboratories ABT.N to produce a COVID-19 antibody test,
shortly after it gave the same approval to Swiss drugmaker Roche
Holding ROG.S , health officials said on Friday. * WILLIAM HILL: William Hill WMH.L on Friday posted a 57%
plunge in total net revenue for the weeks since coronavirus
lockdowns were imposed in Europe and North America, as sports
betting volumes collapsed and it was forced to close its retail
network of betting shops. * MONEYSUPERMARKET: Moneysupermarket.com MONY.L said on
Friday Just Eat boss Peter Duffy would join the price comparison
website as its new chief executive officer, replacing Mark Lewis
who leaves the company in August. * BT: BT Group Plc BT.L is in talks to sell a
multi-billion pound stake in its wholly-owned network subsidiary
Openreach to infrastructure investors to help fund an ambitious
expansion in fibre broadband, the Financial Times reported on
Thursday. * MANUFACTURERS: British manufacturers think it will take
longer to recover from the economic impact of COVID-19 than just
a couple of weeks ago, according to an industry survey.
* CARNIVAL: Cruise operator Carnival Corp CCL.N CCL.L
said on Thursday it is cutting 820 positions out of a workforce
of roughly 3,000 employees in Florida, as the future of the
industry remains uncertain amid no-sail orders due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. * OIL: Oil prices rose, extending day-earlier gains, as data
showed demand for crude picking up in China after the easing of
curbs to stem the coronavirus outbreak, boosting hopes that the
global supply overhang may start to fade. O/R
* GOLD: Gold rose to trade below a three-week high reached
in the previous session, as cracks widened in Sino-U.S.
relations and investors worried a recovery from
coronavirus-induced economic slump would be slower than
expected. GOL/
* UK stocks closed firmly in the red on Thursday as
investors worried that a recovery from a coronavirus-led
economic slump would be slower than expected even as several
hard-hit countries started easing lockdowns. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please
click on: LIVE/
TODAY'S UK PAPERS
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