(Adds news items, futures)
May 7 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 26 points
higher at 7,102 on Friday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures
FFIc1 seen up 0.54% ahead of cash market open.
* IAG: IAG ICAG.L forecast only a minimal pick-up in capacity to 25% for
the April to June quarter. * IHG: InterContinental Hotels IHG.L said demand was picking up ahead of
the U.S. summer season, with pandemic-driven trends such as staycation and the
easing of curbs propping up an industry rampaged by the COVID-19 crisis.
* ST. MODWEN PROPERTIES: St. Modwen Properties SMP.L said private equity
firm Blackstone has made a possible takeover offer of 542 pence per share.
* BARCLAYS: Sherborne Investors, the firm led by activist investor Edward
Bramson, has sold its 6% stake in Barclays. * INDIVIOR: Indivior INDV.L was hit by a shareholder rebellion at its
annual meeting on Thursday over bonuses for its former CEO. * CAIRN ENERGY: India has asked state-run banks to withdraw funds from their
foreign currency accounts abroad, two government officials and a banker said, as
New Delhi fears Cairn Energy CNE.L may try to seize the cash after an
arbitration ruling in a tax dispute. * BP: Woodfibre LNG said on Thursday it signed a second agreement to sell
LNG from its proposed export plant in British Columbia to a unit of BP PLC
BP.L . * JOBS: Demand for workers from British employers soared this month at the
fastest rate since the late 1990s as much of the economy reopened following the
latest coronavirus lockdown, a survey of recruitment consultants showed.
* GOLD: Gold prices hovered near a 2-1/2-month high aided by a weaker dollar
and a pullback in Treasury yields. * OIL: Oil prices recovered after a 1% dip in the previous session on
buoyant economic data from China and the United States. * The UK blue-chip index .FTSE closed 0.4% higher on Thursday, boosted by
heavyweight consumer staple stocks and positive earnings updates from Next and
Melrose Industries. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
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