(Adds futures, news items)
Feb 21 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening lower on
Friday with futures FFIc1 down 0.5 % ahead of the cash market open.
* PEARSON: British education group Pearson PSON.L reported 6% growth in
operating profit to 581 million pounds ($748.7 million) for 2019, slightly below
guidance lowered last month, as falling textbook sales in North America offset
growth in the rest of the business. * HAMMERSON: Shopping centre operator Hammerson HMSO.L said it will exit
retail parks business by selling seven of them to private equity Orion for 400
million pounds ($515.52 million) as it faces a challenging retail environment in
the UK. * HSBC: Unicredit Spa CRDI.MI Chief Executive Officer Jean-Pierre Mustier
has emerged as one of the main external candidates for the top job at HSBC
Holdings Plc HSBA.L , Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar
with the matter. * RIO: Global Miner Rio Tinto RIO.AX , RIO.L said its Mongolian copper
unit had begun an international arbitration process, seeking to resolve a
dispute with the local tax authority. * GOLD: Gold prices held steady at a near seven-year high as nervous
investors opted for safe haven assets amid fears about the economic damage from
China's coronavirus epidemic that eclipsed Beijing's stimulus efforts.
* COPPER: London copper is on track for its first weekly decline in three,
as the coronavirus outbreak in top consumer China dented demand for the red
metal, and fanned fears over its spread and impact on the global economy.
* OIL: Oil prices fell around 1%, pressured by growing worries about fuel
demand as a coronavirus epidemic spread further beyond China, and as major crude
producers appeared to be in no rush to cut output to buttress the market.
* The blue-chip index .FTSE slipped 0.3% on Thursday as Imperial Brands
IMB.L tumbled on ex-dividend trading, while most other sectors also traded in
the red with a surge in coronavirus infections in South Korea stoking fears
about a deepening health crisis. UK PAPERS
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