Aug 1 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is expected to open 9 points higher at 7,596 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers.
* PEARSON: British education company Pearson Plc PSON.L on Thursday said it has notified customers of a data breach that resulted in unauthorized access to about 13,000 school and university accounts, mainly in the United States. STANDARD CHARTERED: Standard Chartered PLC STAN.L exceeded forecasts with a 3% increase in its first-half profit, but flagged trade tensions and a monetary policy easing cycle as potential risks for the London-headquartered lender. WOODFORD: Neil Woodford's suspended Equity Income Fund has breached a 10% cap on unlisted stocks after three of its holdings stopped trading on the Guernsey exchange, though a spokesman said it was taking action to remedy the situation. OIL: Oil prices skidded on Thursday, declining for the first time in six days, after the U.S. Federal Reserve dampened hopes for a string of interest rate cuts and Sino-U.S. talks ended without apparent progress towards resolving a bitter trade dispute. GOLD: Gold prices dropped to two-week lows on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut rates by 25 basis points as expected but tampered market expectations of a lengthy easing cycle, lifting the dollar to a two-year high. EX-DIVS: RELX REL.L will trade without entitlement to its latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 1.02 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations London's FTSE 100 slipped on Wednesday from this week's 11-month high, as wealth manager St. James's Place, homebuilder Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW) and mortgage lender Lloyds (LON:LLOY) fell on the back of results, overshadowing an upbeat forecast from clothing retailer Next. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: LIVE/
* UK CORPORATE DIARY:
Portmeirion Group
Half Year Earnings Release Mondi
Half Year Earnings Release Eurocell
Half Year Earnings Release RSA Insurance Group
Half Year Earnings Release Spirent Communications
Half Year Earnings Release Schroders
Half Year Earnings Release RPS Group
Half Year Earnings Release Merlin Entertainments
Half Year Earnings Release Barclays
Half Year Earnings Release British American Tobacco
Half Year Earnings Release Intertek Group
Half Year Earnings Release London Stock Exchange Group
Interim Earnings Release Coats Group
Half Year Earnings Release Capita
Half Year Earnings Release ConvaTec Group
Half Year Earnings Release Rio Tinto
Half Year Earnings Release
TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times
PRESS/FT
> Other business headlines
PRESS/GB