Aug 2 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is expected to open 82
points lower at 7,503 on Friday, according to financial bookmakers.
* GOALS SOCCER: Five-a-side football pitch operator Goals Soccer Centres Plc
GOAL.L will disclose on Friday that the accounting crisis which caused its
shares to be suspended in March dates back a decade, Sky News reported on
Thursday. * U.S.-CHINA: U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to impose a 10% tariff on
$300 billion of Chinese imports from Sept. 1, sharply escalating a bruising
trade war between the world's largest economies and jolting financial markets.
* STERLING: Sterling sank to a 30-month low on Thursday below $1.21, hurt by
a stronger dollar, renewed worries about a no-deal Brexit and reduced Bank of
England forecasts for British economic growth. * OIL: Oil prices rose more than 2% on Friday, rebounding from their biggest
fall in years after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed more tariffs on Chinese
imports, intensifying the trade war between the world's two biggest economies
and crude consumers. * GOLD: Gold prices fell nearly 1% on Friday, as investors locked in profit
after U.S. President Donald Trump's fresh salvo in the year-long trade spat with
China increased demand for the safe-haven metal in the previous session.
* London's FTSE 100 ended flat on Thursday despite a profit miss from Shell
and dampened hopes of big U.S. interest rate cuts, while the mid-cap FTSE 250
index slipped after Brexit worries led the Bank of England to cut its growth
forecasts. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
LIVE/
* UK CORPORATE DIARY:
Airea AIEA.L Half Year Earnings Release
BT Group BT.L Q1 Trading Statement Release
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels MLC.L Half Year Earnings Release
Royal Bank of Scotland Group RBS.L Half Year Earnings Release
Essentra ESNT.L Half Year Earnings Release
IAG ICAG.L Half Year Earnings Release
Pets at Home Group PETSP.L Q1 Trading Statement Release
TODAY'S UK PAPERS
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