(Adds company news items, futures)
Sept 6 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is expected to open
lower on Friday, with futures FFIc1 trading down 0.2% at 7253.
* CONNECT: The British newspaper distributor CNCTC.L said its Smiths News
network secured a five-year contract to distribute The Daily Telegraph and
Sunday Telegraph, with annual revenue of more than 100 million pounds.
* BERKELEY: Housebuilder Berkeley Group Plc BKGH.L said market conditions
in London and the South East of England were robust, and pricing stable, in the
first four months of its financial year against the backdrop of Brexit jitters.
* GREENE KING: Greene King Plc GNK.L said comparable sales at its pubs
grew 1.5% over the last seven weeks, as the company prepares for a proposed 4.6
billion pound ($5.68 billion) takeover by Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-Shing.
* ASHMORE: Emerging market fund manager Ashmore ASHM.L posted a 10% rise
in core profit for its financial year ending June 2019, helped by both inflows
and positive market performance, though the results were slightly below a
consensus forecast. * SHELL, BP: Think-tank Carbon Tracker said in a report that investment
plans by Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L , BP BP.L and ExxonMobil XOM.N , among
others, will not be compatible with the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to
limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. * SHELL: Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) XOM.N has agreed to sell its Norwegian oil and gas
assets, which comprises minority stakes in more than 20 fields, operated by
local producer Equinor EQNR.OL and Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell,
for up to $4 billion. * BREXIT: Number of workers hired for permanent jobs through recruitment
agencies in Britain fell at the fastest pace in more than three years in August
as the Brexit crisis deepened, a survey showed. * BREXIT: If Britain quits the European Union without a deal next month,
some checks may need to take place near Ireland's border with British-run
Northern Ireland, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Thursday.
* GOLD: Gold prices remained under pressure on Friday, following a 2% drop
in the previous session, as robust U.S. data encouraged a return to riskier
assets and hit demand for safe-haven bullion. * OIL: Oil prices edged higher, with crude benchmarks poised for multi-week
gains amid a sharp drawdown in U.S. crude inventories, while trade tensions
eased after Washington and Beijing agreed to hold high-level talks next month.
* London's FTSE 100 slipped 0.6% on Thursday as a surge in sterling pushed
exporter stocks lower, missing out on a global rally led by growing hopes of a
resolution to the U.S.-China trade dispute. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
TODAY'S UK PAPERS
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