* PRUDENTIAL: Prudential’s operating profit increased 8% in 2022, the Asia-focused insurer said, boosted by new insurance sales despite the region battling the coronavirus pandemic.
* PAY: British employers agreed pay rises averaging 5.0% during the three months to the end of January, well above historic norms, and a tight labour market means pay settlements are likely to remain high, a survey showed.
* OIL: Oil prices rebounded more than 1% recovering from the previous day's plunge, as a stronger OPEC outlook on China's demand helped offset bearish global investor sentiment in the wake of the recent U.S. bank failures.
* GOLD: Gold prices edged up in range-bound trading due to a softer dollar, while investors assessed the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate-hike trajectory after a closely-watched consumer prices report showed still-high inflation.
* METALS: Copper prices edged up after cooling U.S. inflation data bolstered hopes of lower interest rate hikes by its central bank next week, while signs of demand recovery from top consumer China also supported investors' buying appetite.
* FTSE: The UK's FTSE 100 reversed course and logged its best day in over two months amid a rebound in financial stocks and on rising bets of a slowdown in the U.S. Federal Reserve's aggressive monetary policy tightening.
* UK CORPORATE DIARY:
Ferrexpo Plc FY Results
IG Group Q3 Results
Balfour Beatty FY Results
Marshalls Plc FY Results
4Imprint Group FY Results
Keywords Studios FY Results
Kin and Carta Plc HY 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)
