UK Stocks-Factors to watch on March 17

March 17 - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening higher on Monday, with futures FFIc1 up 0.27%. The blue-chip index closed 1.1% higher on Friday.

RED TAPE: British finance minister Rachel Reeves will meet regulators on Monday to unveil an "action plan" to cut red tape, while think tank Resolution Foundation said that her headroom for meeting her budget rules has probably turned into a 4.4 billion-pound ($5.7 billion) deficit.

APPLE: A London court hearing, reportedly on Apple's AAPL.O appeal against a British government order to create a "back door" to its encrypted cloud storage systems, was held in secret on Friday.

STEEL: Britain's steel industry has called on the government to help with electricity prices.

THAMES WATER: Thames Water KMBWTH.UL will find out from a court this week whether a 3 billion pound ($3.88 billion) debt lifeline can proceed as its battle to avoid a state rescue continues.

OIL: Oil prices traded higher after the U.S. vowed to keep attacking Yemen's Houthis until the Iran-aligned group ends its assaults on shipping.

GOLD: Gold firmed after touching a historic milestone last week as geopolitical tensions, escalating trade frictions and increased hopes of U.S. rate cuts continued to fuel safe haven demand.

METALS: Metals were mostly trading higher on the London Metals Exchange, supported by a weaker dollar, although concerns over U.S. tariffs limited the gains.

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