News: RIO UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Aug 1

Aug 1 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is expected to open 9 points higher at 7,596 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers.

• PEARSON: British education company Pearson Plc PSON.L on Thursday said it has notified customers of a data breach that resulted in unauthorized access to about 13,000 school and university accounts, mainly in the United States.

• STANDARD CHARTERED: Standard Chartered PLC STAN.L exceeded forecasts with a 3% increase in its first-half profit, but flagged trade tensions and a monetary policy easing cycle as potential risks for the London-headquartered lender.
• WOODFORD: Neil Woodford's suspended Equity Income Fund has breached a 10% cap on unlisted stocks after three of its holdings stopped trading on the Guernsey exchange, though a spokesman said it was taking action to remedy the situation.
• OIL: Oil prices skidded on Thursday, declining for the first time in six days, after the U.S. Federal Reserve dampened hopes for a string of interest rate cuts and Sino-U.S. talks ended without apparent progress towards resolving a bitter trade dispute.
• GOLD: Gold prices dropped to two-week lows on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut rates by 25 basis points as expected but tampered market expectations of a lengthy easing cycle, lifting the dollar to a two-year high.

• EX-DIVS: RELX REL.L will trade without entitlement to its latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 1.02 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations
• London's FTSE 100 slipped on Wednesday from this week's 11-month high, as wealth manager St. James's Place, homebuilder Taylor Wimpey and mortgage lender Lloyds fell on the back of results, overshadowing an upbeat forecast from clothing retailer Next.
• For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
• UK CORPORATE DIARY: Portmeirion Group PMGR.L Half Year Earnings Release Mondi MNDI.L Half Year Earnings Release Eurocell ECEL.L Half Year Earnings Release RSA Insurance Group RSA.L Half Year Earnings Release Spirent Communications SPT.L Half Year Earnings Release Schroders SDR.L Half Year Earnings Release RPS Group RPS.L Half Year Earnings Release Merlin Entertainments MERL.L Half Year Earnings Release Barclays BARC.L Half Year Earnings Release British American Tobacco BATS.L Half Year Earnings Release Intertek Group ITRK.L Half Year Earnings Release London Stock Exchange Group LSE.L Interim Earnings Release Coats Group COA.L Half Year Earnings Release Capita CPI.L Half Year Earnings Release ConvaTec Group CTEC.L Half Year Earnings Release Rio Tinto RIO.L Half Year Earnings Release

  TODAY'S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines