(Adds futures, news items)
March 22 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 3
points lower at 6,705 on Monday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures
.FFIc1 down 0.41% ahead of the cash market open.
* DELIVEROO: Deliveroo said its upcoming initial public offering in London
will value the company at up to 8.8 billion pounds. * ASTRAZENECA: AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) AZN.L and Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine
was 79% effective in a large U.S. trial at preventing symptomatic illness, the
drugmaker said. Separately, University of Oxford said phase three trials
conducted in the U.S., Chile and Peru have shown that COVID-19 AstraZeneca
vaccine is safe and highly effective. * KINGFISHER: Kingfisher KGF.L reported a 44% jump in full-year
profit. * CENTAMIN: Centamin's CEY.L annual pretax profit nearly doubled as gold
prices surged during the COVID-19 crisis. * PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE: Britain's competition watchdog said it is
investigating whether Penguin Random House's $2.18 billion takeover of Simon &
Schuster may reduce competition. * BP: BP 's BP.L output at its projects in Azerbaijan totalled 3.9 million
tonnes in January to February, the energy ministry said on Saturday. * COVID-19: Britain said it would remind the European Union of its
commitment to allow vaccine manufacturers to fulfil orders, including the export
of shots to Britain, after speculation of a vaccine trade war heated
up. * TRAVEL: Holidays abroad are "extremely unlikely" for most Britons this
summer due to the risk of importing new variants of COVID-19, a scientist who
advises the government said on Saturday, leaving airlines and travel companies
bracing for a second lost peak season. * GOLD: Gold prices slipped as investors opted for alternative safe-haven
assets such as the U.S. dollar and bonds. * OIL: Oil prices resumed their decline, falling around 1% as worries about
a drop in demand for fuel products in the wake of yet more European lockdowns
dominated trading. * The UK blue-chip index .FTSE closed 1.1% lower on Friday, as a retreat
in U.S. Treasury yields weighed on bank stocks. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
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