News: BHP UK Stocks-Factors to watch on March 21

March 21 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index .FTSE is seen opening flat on Monday, with futures FFIc1 down 0.07%.

• SHELL: Australia's offshore petroleum watchdog has cleared the way for Shell SHEL.L to restart its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas site off northwestern Australia, after a power outage forced a shutdown in December.
• ASTRAZENECA: Bristol Myers Squibb Co BMY.N , in a lawsuit made public on Friday, said AstraZeneca's AZN.L cancer treatment Imfinzi violates patents related to its blockbuster cancer drug Opdivo.
• CVC: Europe's biggest private equity firm CVC Capital Partners is planning to shun London and take its multibillion-euro initial public offering to the Netherlands, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
• BUDGET: British finance minister Rishi Sunak, preparing for a budget update this week, said on Sunday he would help where he could with a cost-of-living squeeze but warned that the Ukraine crisis and sanctions on Russia would add to the economy's problems.
• UK HOUSES: Asking prices for British houses have recorded their sharpest monthly jump for the time of year since March 2004, despite a growing squeeze on households' disposable income from higher energy bills and rising interest rates.
• OIL: Oil prices jumped $2 as Ukrainian forces dug in against heavy Russian attacks, while major oil producers reported they are struggling to produce their allotted quotas under a supply agreement.
• GOLD: Gold prices rose, lifted by safe-haven demand as the Ukraine crisis showed no signs of abatement, although the gains were capped by the U.S. Federal Reserve's plan of aggressive measures to combat inflation.
• METALS: London aluminium prices jumped as much as 4.8%, as fears of supply disruption resurfaced after Australia banned exports of alumina and aluminium ores to Russia amid mounting sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
• FTSE 100: British stocks ended near session highs on Friday and the blue-chip index clocked its best weekly performance in over a year as investors digested negotiations over the Ukraine-Russia conflict and a dovish outlook from the Bank of England this week.
• UK CORPORATE DIARY: STHREE PLC STEMS.L FY results PHOTO-ME INTERNATIONAL PHTM.L FY results
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