UK Stocks Factors to watch on Jan 18

 

Britain's FTSE 100 is seen opening up 12-26 points by financial bookmakers on Monday, recovering slightly after weak U.S. data dented sentiment the previous session.

The blue-chip index is seen up as much as 0.5 percent after it fell 0.8 percent on Friday dented by lacklustre consumer sentiment data and results that showed JP Morgan reported deep fourth quarter losses on mortgage and credit card loans.

Miners are likely to lend the index some support after they fell on Friday with metal prices recovering broadly.

Data from property website Rightmove showing that house prices in England and Wales rose an annual 4.1 percent in January will also lend some support as it will reassure investors that the UK economy is emerging from recession.

Trading is likely to be relatively subdued as U.S. markets are closed for the Martin Luther King public holiday.

* Wall St stumbles on JP Morgan, economic data

* Asian stocks slide as JP Morgan, US data weigh

* Nikkei slips 1.8 pct after JP Morgan; techs fall

* Oil falls for sixth session to below $78/bbl

* FOREX-Dollar and yen in vogue, euro and Aussie suffer

* Copper steady as econ hopes shake off stocks worry

* PRECIOUS-Gold holds steady around $1,130/oz

UK stocks to watch on Monday are:

CADBURY

The confectionery group's chief executive said the company could be worth more than 10 pounds a share by 2013 in an interview published in the Daily Telegraph's Monday edition.

Bidder Kraft, under British takeover panel rules, has until Tuesday Jan 19 to increase its 10.5 billion pounds hostile offer for Cadbury, and the Financial Times at the weekend said the U.S. firm will raises its bid by adding more cash and could announce the move as soon as Monday.

TULLOW OIL, HERITAGE OIL

Tullow has sought to delay the deadline by which it must decide whether to pre-empt its partner Heritage Oil's $1.5 billion sale of its Uganda assets to Italy's ENI, sources close to the matter said on Friday.

INTERNATIONAL POWER

French utility GDF Suez is eying a tie-up with Britain's International Power, with the Sunday Times saying a takeover bid is on the cards while French online news service Wansquare said the link would take another form.

BANKS

Britain is not considering adopting U.S. President Barack Obama's proposal for a levy on banks, Finance Minister Alistair Darling told The Scotsman in an interview published on Saturday.

MITCHELLS & BUTLERS

Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesman Vince Cable has stepped onto the shareholder row at the pubs group by writing to the financial services watchdog to voice his concerns.

HSBC

The bank is among three bidders for a 47 percent stake worth $850 million in Thailand's Siam City Bank, a banking source said on Monday.

XSTRATA

The miner said on Monday that rolling work stoppages by union employees was making it impractical to maintain operations at its Bulga coal mine in Australia and told workers to stay at home for 24 hours.

ASOS

The company releases a trading update.

TAYLOR WIMPEY

The company releases a trading update