News: RIO UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on July 2

(Adds new items, updates futures)

July 2 - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening lower on Tuesday, with futures FFIc1 down 0.5%.

• GSK: A Delaware judge rebuffed a request by GSK GSK.L and other drugmakers to appeal a ruling allowing more than 70,000 lawsuits claiming that the heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer to go forward.
• SAINSBURY: Sainsbury's SBRY.L , Britain's second largest supermarket group, kept its annual financial guidance as it reported a 3% rise in first-quarter underlying sales, though robust grocery sales were partially offset by weather-related weakness in non-food areas.
• INFLATION: Prices in British shops rose at the slowest pace in almost three years last month, according to industry figures that underscore how inflation has cooled even if Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is unlikely to see much benefit in this week's national election.
• RIO TINTO: Global miner Rio Tinto (RIO) is negotiating with workers at its Oyu Tolgoi copper operations in Mongolia to avert further industrial action over a sharp drop in wages that triggered an earlier strike in May.
• GOLD: Gold prices slipped as the U.S. dollar held firm, while investors awaited comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as well as the country's jobs data for further clues about the interest rate outlook.
• OIL: Oil prices were little changed holding near the two-month highs reached in the previous session, on expectations for rising fuel demand from the summer travel season and possible U.S. interest rate cuts that could boost economic growth.
• METALS: Copper prices climbed, as stocks withdrawals in South Korea relieved some oversupply pressure, although manufacturing activity contracted at some companies in top consumer China.

• For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:

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