(Adds company news items and futures)
July 17 (Reuters) - Britain’s FTSE 100 futures were flat on Tuesday ahead of the cash market open.
* ROYAL MAIL: Britain’s Royal Mail Plc said on Tuesday some customers remained uncertain about the new European data privacy law as the company reported a decline in the number of letters it delivered in its first quarter.
* ARBUTHNOT: Britain’s Arbuthnot Banking Group Plc reported a jump in first-half pretax profit and said it would set up a specialist secured lending unit to provide short-term secured loans to property businesses and entrepreneurs.
* FINSBURY: Finsbury Food Group is on track to hit its profit target for the year, despite a perfect storm of high commodity prices and rising wages putting pressure on margins, the Telegraph reported. bit.ly/2LbI597
* OIL: Brent crude prices rose from a three-month low on Tuesday after more oil workers went on strike in Norway, supporting a market that has been dominated by oversupply issues in recent days.
* GOLD: Gold prices were steady on Tuesday, as the U.S. dollar remained largely unchanged ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s first congressional testimony.
* The UK blue chip index closed 0.8 percent lower at 7600.45 on Monday, as soft Chinese data hit miners amid persistent worries over global trade.
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
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> Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru)
