(Updates futures, adds news items)
June 19 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is
seen opening lower on Wednesday, with futures FFIc1 down
0.07%.
* INFLATION: British inflation returned to its 2% target in
May for the first time in nearly three years, data showed, but
underlying price pressures remained strong, meaning the Bank of
England is likely to wait longer before cutting interest rates.
* BERKELEY: British high-end homebuilder Berkeley BKGH.L
lifted its earnings outlook by 5% for fiscal 2025 and said that
the current lack of urgency in the housing market was likely to
remain until the start in reduction of interest rates.
* VODAFONE: British mobile group Vodafone VOD.L confirmed
it had sold an 18% stake in India's Indus Towers INUS.NS for
1.7 billion euros ($1.83 billion) and would use the proceeds to
repay lenders in relation to borrowings secured against its
Indian assets.
* IAG: Pilots at Aer Lingus, part of the IAG group ICAG.L
have informed management that they plan to begin work-to-rule
industrial action from June 26 for an indefinite period in a
dispute over pay, a move the Irish airline said will lead to
"significant disruption."
* ANGLO AMERICAN: Anglo American's AAL.L copper output at
its Los Bronces mine in Chile is expected to fall nearly a third
from average historical levels next year as the miner pauses a
processing plant for maintenance, the company's Chile head said.
* SHELL: Shell SHEL.L closed a 56,300-barrel-per-day (bpd)
hydrocracking unit at its Pernis oil refinery in the
Netherlands, consultancy Wood Mackenzie reported.
* BARCLAYS: Barclays BARC.L said it will cut about 100
million pounds of annual costs from its UK corporate banking
business by 2026, under broader plans by the British bank to
ramp up lending at the under-achieving division.
* OIL: Oil steady amid war jitters, surprise build in U.S.
crude stocks
* GOLD: Gold ticks up as Fed rate cut bets burnish appeal
* METALS: Copper supported by supply shortages, but demand
caps gains
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please
click on: LIVE/
TODAY'S UK PAPERS
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($1 = 0.9312 euros)
(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru)
((Radhika.Anilkumar@thomsonreuters.com;))