March 25 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 17
points lower at 6,695 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers.
* ASTRAZENECA: AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) AZN.L said its COVID-19 vaccine was 76%
effective at preventing symptomatic illness in a new analysis of its major U.S.
trial - a tad lower than the level announced earlier this week in a report that
was criticised for using outdated information. * BT: BT BT.L said it had met its target of extending full-fibre broadband
to 4.5 mln premises by the end of March. * PUBS: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested on Wednesday that
some pubs might require customers to produce vaccine certificates, an idea that
he had previously deemed unlikely. * ECONOMY: Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane said on Wednesday he
remained confident that Britain's economy was poised for a quick bounce-back as
the country races ahead with its coronavirus vaccinations and restrictions are
lifted. * GOLD: Gold prices rose as surging COVID-19 cases across Europe fuelled
economic growth concerns. * OIL: Oil prices skidded around 2% as fuel demand concerns re-emerged
alongside fresh coronavirus pandemic lockdowns. * The UK blue-chip index .FTSE closed 0.2% higher on Wednesday as data
showed a better-than-expected rebound in British business activity in
March. UK CORPORATE DIARY:
S4 Capital SFOR.L FY results
SIG SHI.L FY results
Cineworld CINE.L FY results
United Utilities UU.L Trading update
Compass Group CPG.L Trading update
Enquest ENQ.L FY results
IQE IQE.L FY results
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
LIVE/
TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times PRESS/FT
> Other business headlines PRESS/GB