* HOUSE PRICES: British property surveyors grew less gloomy about the prospects for the housing market in February as a slump in new buyer enquiries eased, but reports of falling house prices hit a 14-year high, a survey showed.
* RECESSION: The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) forecast that the country's economy is on track to shrink less than expected this year and avoid the two quarters of negative growth which mark a technical recession.
* OIL: Oil prices were near flat as a larger-than-expected draw in U.S. crude stocks contended with worries that more aggressive U.S. interest rate rises would strain economic growth and therefore dent oil consumption.
* GOLD: Gold prices traded in a tight range as some investors stayed on the
sidelines ahead of U.S. jobs data that could influence the Federal Reserve's
monetary policy path.
* METALS: London copper prices fell as the dollar hovered near a
three-month high, making the greenback-priced metal more expensive to holders of
other currencies.
* FTSE: Britain's FTSE 100 edged up on Wednesday as investors parsed
comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, while insurer Hiscox
rose on better-than-expected full-year results.
* UK CORPORATE DIARY:
Entain Plc FY Results Domino's Pizza Group FY Results M&G Plc FY Results PageGroup FY Results Harbour Energy FY Results DS Smith Q3 Trading update Informa Plc FY Results Hammerson Plc FY Results Spirax-Sarco Engineering FY Results Aviva Plc FY Results Network International FY Results Convatec Group 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)
