July 30 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening 15 points higher at 6,147 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers.
SHELL: Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA.L) said its second-quarter writedowns include the OPL 245 licence for an offshore oilfield in Nigeria which it holds alongside Eni (ENI.MI).
ASTRAZENECA: AstraZeneca (AZN.L) topped second-quarter sales and profit expectations and stood by its 2020 forecasts.
LLOYDS BANKING GROUP: Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) swung to a rare pretax loss in the first half of 2020, after setting aside a bigger than expected 2.4 billion pounds second quarter provision.
STANDARD CHARTERED: Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN) posted a 33% fall in its first-half profit, as the bank boosted its credit impairment charges by six-fold as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn.
MAN GROUP: Man Group (EMG.L) recorded an 8% fall in assets in the first six months of 2020.
ANGLO AMERICAN: Anglo American (AAL.L) said first-half profits fell 39%.
BAE SYSTEMS: BAE Systems (BAES.L) warned its underlying earnings would be slightly lower in 2020.
RENTOKIL: Rentokil Initial Plc (RTO.L) reported an 11% fall in adjusted pretax profit for the first half of this year.
RSA: RSA (RSA.L) posted an above-forecast operating profit of 349 million pounds in the first half.
ROBERT WALTERS': Robert Walters' (RWA.L) half-year profit fell nearly 80%.
SCHRODERS: Schroders (SDR.L) posted a 10% fall in profit before tax and exceptional items in the first half of the year.
INDIVIOR: Indivior (INDV.L) reported a 73% fall in its second-quarter profit.
FINANCE: More small British companies that were in financial difficulty before the COVID-19 pandemic will be able to access government-backed loans following a relaxation of European Union state aid rules.
AUTOMOBILE: British car production fell by more than an annual 40% in the first half of the year to the lowest level since 1954.
OIL: Oil prices were little changed, restrained by concerns that surging coronavirus infections could jeopardize a recovery in fuel demand just as major oil producers are set to raise output.
GOLD: Gold eased after the U.S. Federal Reserve's vow to support the coronavirus-ravaged economy buoyed risk sentiment.
The UK blue-chip index FTSE 100 ended flat on Wednesday as investors held out for more stimulus from the U.S. Congress and the Federal Reserve, while GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK), Barclays (LON:BARC) and Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW) slid on weak quarterly earnings.
UK CORPORATE DIARY:
Shell (RDSb.L) Q2 Results
Man Group (EMG.L) HY Earnings Releases
RSA Insurance Group (RSA.L) HY Earnings Releases
Rentokil Initial (RTO.L) HY Earnings Releases
Inchcape (INCH.L) HY Earnings Releases
Greencoat UK Wind (UKWG.L) HY Earnings Releases
Standard Chartered (STAN.L) HY Earnings Releases
AstraZeneca (AZN.L) Q2 Earnings Releases
BAE Systems (BAES.L) HY Earnings Releases
Anglo American (AAL.L) HY Earnings Releases
Compass Group (CPG.L) Q3 Trading Statement
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) HY Earnings Releases
3i Group (III.L) Q1 Trading Statement
Kaz Minerals (KAZ.L) Q2 Production Report
EVRAZ (EVRE.L) Q2 Trading Update
Indivior (INDV.L) HY Earnings Releases