* M&G: Australian investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd is at the early stages of exploring a takeover bid of over 5 billion pounds for British money manager M&G , Sky News reported citing sources.
* GSK: A panel of outside advisers to the U.S. health regulator backed GSK Plc's RSV vaccine, setting it up for a race with rival Pfizer to become the first approved U.S. shot against the disease.
* PRET A? MANGER: British coffee and sandwich chain Pret A? Manger will raise staff pay for a third time in a year, an increase that will likely pique the interest of the Bank of England as it weighs up inflationary pressure in the economy.
* OIL: Oil prices inched up on signs of a strong economic rebound in China,
though gains were capped by a rise in U.S. crude inventories and global demand
concerns.
* GOLD: Gold prices were lower as the dollar firmed, with a fresh set of
global economic data cementing investor worries that global interest rates would
stay higher for longer than expected.
* METALS: Copper prices fell in London as traders and investors were
cautious ahead of a key meeting in China that will set the economic agenda in
the world's biggest consumer of the metal.
* FTSE: The UK's FTSE 100 started March on a strong footing as higher
commodity prices lifted mining stocks after manufacturing activity in top metals
consumer China expanded at the fastest pace in over a decade.
* UK CORPORATE DIARY:
LSEG FY Results Schroders Plc FY Results Metro Bank FY Results National Express Group FY Results Taylor Wimpey FY Results Flutter Entertainment FY Results Hunting Plc FY Results Melrose Industries FY Results Grafton Group FY Results Coats Group FY Results Capita Plc FY Results ITV Plc FY Results Cairn Homes FY Results CRH FY Results
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: TODAY'S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines (Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru)
