BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks were slightly lower on
Friday after Nigel Farage's Reform UK has surpassed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's
Conservatives in a YouGov poll.

The poll for the Times newspaper puts Reform UK at 19 percent, up from 17
percent previously, and the Conservative Party unchanged at 18 percent in voting
intention.

Meanwhile, Britons' short-term inflation expectations softened in May, the
quarterly Inflation Attitudes Survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the Bank of
England showed.

The one-year ahead inflation expectations fell to 2.6 percent from 2.8 percent
in February. Respondents assessed the current inflation at 5.5 percent compared
to 6.1 percent in the previous survey period.

In five years' time, inflation is seen at 3.1 percent, unchanged from the prior
survey period.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 0.1 percent at 8,152 after declining 0.6 percent
the previous day.

In corporate news, Crest Nicholson shares jumped 8.4 percent. The embattled
housebuilder has rebuffed a second all-share takeover approach from its larger
rival Bellway.

Tesco rallied 2.3 percent after reporting a 'robust' surge in grocery purchases
by U.K. shoppers in the most recent quarter.



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