UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 30

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April 30 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 43
points higher at 6,158 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers.
* SAINSBURY: British supermarket group Sainsbury's estimated a profit impact
of 500 million pounds from the coronavirus pandemic and said it would defer any
dividend payment decisions until later in the financial year. * HIKMA: Hikma Pharmaceuticals HIK.L stuck with its full-year revenue
forecast for its generic drug business on Thursday, encouraged by high demand
for some of its medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic. * KAZ MINERALS: Copper miner Kaz Minerals KAZ.L on Thursday cut its
forecast capital expenditure for 2020 and said production from its Aktogay
expansion project in Kazakhstan will be delayed due to coronavirus-driven
disruptions. * SHELL: Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L cut its dividend for the first time in
80 years and suspended the next tranche of its share buyback programme on
Thursday following the collapse in global oil demand due to the coronavirus
pandemic. * JOHN LAING GROUP: Infrastructure firm John Laing Group JLG.L on Thursday
named Ben Loomes as its chief executive officer, effective May 8. * RECKITT BENCKISER: Reckitt Benckiser Plc RB.L on Thursday forecast
better than previously anticipated results for 2020 after reporting record
quarterly sales growth as customers stocked up on its Lysol disinfectants,
Mucinex cough syrup and Dettol soap in coronavirus lockdowns. * GLENCORE: Glencore GLEN.L on Thursday cut its capital expenditure and
production targets in 2020 as the coronavirus worsened the economic outlook and
hit its business. * LLOYDS BANKING: Lloyds Banking Group LLOY.L saw its pretax profit all
but wiped out in the first quarter, after becoming the latest lender hobbled by
huge provisions against expected bad loans due to the coronavirus pandemic.
* OIL: Oil prices rose on Thursday, building on big gains in the previous
session on signs the U.S. crude glut is not growing as fast as expected and that
gasoline demand battered by COVID-19 restrictions is starting to pick up.
* GOLD: Gold edged lower on Thursday as risk appetite improved after
positive trial results of an experimental COVID-19 treatment and a jump in oil
prices, while the U.S. Federal Reserve's vow to support the battered economy
underpinned the safe-haven metal. * EX-DIVS: London Stock Exchange Group LSE.L will trade without
entitlement to its latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 0.62 points off
the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations. .L/XD
* The UK blue-chip index .FTSE closed 2.6% higher, while midcap stocks
.FTMC gained 3.3% on Wednesday as encouraging news on a potential COVID-19
treatment and a surge in shares of lenders Barclays and Standard Chartered
following results added to a strong rally in equities this month. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
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($1 = 0.8015 pounds)