(Adds futures, news items)
Jan 5 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 14 points
lower at 6,557 on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures
FFIc1 down 0.32% ahead of cash market open.
* MORRISONS: Morrisons MRW.L reported a rise in underlying sales in its
latest trading period encompassing Christmas, benefiting from out of home eating
and drinking being restricted by strict COVID-19 regulations. * NEXT: Next NXT.L said its sales in the nine weeks to Dec. 26 were much
better than it had expected, although an additional property provision of 40
million pounds resulted in it nudging down its pretax profit forecast.
* PLUS500: Plus500 Ltd PLUSP.L said it expects to report annual revenue of
about $827 million, ahead of its own expectations, driven by strong trading
volumes in financial markets amid the COVID-19 pandemic. * SECURE TRUST BANK: Secure Trust Bank STBS.L has named David McCreadie as
its new chief executive after long-serving leader Paul Lynam resigned to take
over at the helm of Equiniti Group EQN.L . * NETWORK INTERNATIONAL: Network International NETW.L said Mastercard Inc
MA.N executive Nandan Mer would succeed industry veteran Simon Haslam as the
UK-listed company's new chief executive officer. * BUSINESS: British finance minister Rishi Sunak will later on Tuesday set
out plans to offer more help to businesses struggling under the renewed COVID-19
restrictions, a top cabinet minister said. * COVID-19: Britain will shortly publish plans for new border restrictions
to limit the spread of COVID-19, Minister for the Cabinet Office Michael Gove
said. * GOLD: Gold prices eased after hitting an eight-week high, as the U.S.
dollar recovered from multi-year lows ahead of Senate runoff elections in
Georgia that will decide the future path of fiscal stimulus in the world's
largest economy. * OIL: Oil prices edged down before deadlocked talks between major producers
about potential changes in February output are set to continue later in the day
while fuel demand concerns lingered amid new COVID-19 lockdowns. * The UK blue-chip index .FTSE closed 1.7% higher on Monday in the first
trading session of the new year, buoyed by optimism around vaccine rollouts,
while a jump in metal prices helped boost the export-heavy FTSE 100
index. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
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