CORRECTED-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on February 21

Corrects bullet 2 to say Standard Chartered retained, not raised, its earnings target

Feb 21 - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening lower on Friday, with futures FFIc1 down 0.08%.

BOE: British consumers turned a little less pessimistic this month as the Bank of England's latest interest rate cut led to an improvement in expectations for their household finances, according to a survey.

STANDARD CHARTERED: Standard Chartered STAN.L announced a $1.5 billion share buyback and an earnings target that it retained, after reporting its annual profit rose 18% on the back of record growth in its wealth business and strong markets performance.

ABRDN: Abrdn ABDN.L is in advanced talks with Citic Bank 601998.SS to launch an asset management joint venture in China, two people with knowledge of the matter said, as the British firm looks to bolster its presence in the world's second-largest economy.

LABOUR: The number of job postings in the United Kingdom rose for the first time in seven months in January, a survey by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation showed, suggesting the country's jobs market might be weathering the hit from higher taxes on employers.

ELECTRICITY: Britain's electricity distribution network is facing a fundamental role change to deliver the country's net zero emissions target, requiring more proactive investments, a report from a government-appointed commission found.

OIL: Oil prices extended gains, headed for a weekly increase.

GOLD: Gold prices remained steady on Friday.

METAL: London copper eased on Friday.

The UK blue-chip index .FTSE closed down 0.57% on Thursday on a mixed bag of corporate earnings.

UK CORPORATE DIARY:

For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: LIVE/

TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times PRESS/FT
> Other business headlines PRESS/GB