UK Stocks-Factors to watch on March 26

March 26 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index opened down 0.6% on Thursday.

*CAPRICORN ENERGY: Capricorn Energy CNE.L swung to an annual pre-tax loss , after it took a $10.6 million impairment charge for its Egyptian joint venture.

*SERICA ENERGY: Serica Energy SQZ.L reported a 50% fall in annual pretax profit, hurt by lower production due to outages at the Triton floating production storage.

*NEXT: Next NXT.L warned the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran will likely impact costs, selling prices and consumer demand.

*3i GROUP: 3i Group III.L said that discount retailer Action plans to open its first store in the southeastern United States by the end of 2027 or in early 2028.

*ABF: Britain's competition regulator flagged competition risks in Northern Ireland over Associated British Foods' ABF.L acquisition of rival Hovis.

*CO-OP: Co-op 42TE.L warned mounting instability from the Iran war would hit consumer confidence in 2026.

*CURRYS: Currys CURY.L said its Chief Executive Alex Baldock intends to step down after eight years in the role to take a new external position.

ANGLO AMERICAN: Anglo American AAL.L and Chile's Codelco have received a green light from the South American nation's antitrust regulator for the Andina-Los Bronces project.

BP: Follow This, and European investors with $1 trillion under management, have given BP BP.L until April 1 to include their resolution in the agenda for BP's AGM.

*STANDARD CHARTERED: Jan Metzger, Citigroup's co-head of investment banking for Asia, will join Standard Chartered STAN.L as global head of coverage banking.

MARKS & SPENCER: Marks & Spencer's MKS.L clothing arm will introduce monthly capsule collections from Thursday.

CONSUMER SENTIMENT: British households' expectations for their own finances and the state of the economy have fallen to their weakest in at least two years, according to a survey.

*DOCTORS' STRIKE: Resident doctors in England will strike for six days in April after rejecting a government pay offer, the British Medical Association said.

COMMODITIES: Oil rose, while gold prices fell, and copper prices retreated.

EX-DIVS: British American Tobacco BATS.L, Prudential PRU.L, Aviva AV.L, Smith & Nephew SN.L, and ST. James Place SJP.L will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out.

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