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        * 
      Unilever names Dutch dairy boss Schumacher as CEO
    

        * 
      BoE seen hiking rate by 50 bps
    

        * 
      888 Holdings tanks to FTSE 250 bottom as CEO quits
    

        * 
      FTSE 100 up 0.3%, FTSE 250 off 0.5%
    

  
 (Updates to market close)
    By Sruthi Shankar and Shristi  Achar A
       Jan 30 (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 gained on Monday as
investors awaited a slew of central bank decisions this week,
with Unilever supporting the index after the consumer goods
giant announced a new chief executive officer.
    The blue-chip FTSE 100  .FTSE  ticked 0.3% higher, while the
midcap FTSE 250  .FTMC  dropped 0.5%. 
    Unilever  ULVR.L  rose 1.3% after the company appointed Hein
Schumacher, currently the chief of Dutch dairy business
FrieslandCampina, to replace CEO Alan Jope from July 1.
    "Unilever has been managing to navigate through the
turbulence pretty adeptly, and the appointment of a new CEO has
been greeted positively by the market, in expectation he will
help steady the ship further," said Susannah Streeter, senior
investment and markets analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.
    The personal care index  .FTNMX452010  gained 1.5%.
    Investors have their eyes on the Bank of England, first of
the major central banks to turn hawkish, which is expected to
deliver its 10th rate hike since December 2021 on Thursday.
Traders have priced in a 50 bps rate hike, followed by another
25 bps in March before the BoE pauses.  
     "How far might they dial back rate hikes and the hints they
might drop about the future trajectory of their policy decisions
are the two things which will be keeping investors up at night,"
said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. 
    Limiting gains on the FTSE 100, life insurers  .FTNMX303010 
dropped 1.6% as insurer Legal & General  LGEN.L  said Chief
Executive Nigel Wilson was retiring after a decade in the top
job but would remain in the post until a successor took the
helm. The stock fell 1.8%. 
    888 Holdings  888.L  tumbled 27.5%, its biggest percentage
loss since 2006, after the bookmaker said CEO Itai Pazner would
step down immediately and it would suspend VIP activities in
some markets pending an internal investigation. 888 did not give
a reason for Pazner's departure.
     Ryanair  RYA.I  slipped 2.7% despite posting a record
after-tax profit for its October-December quarter. The stock hit
an 11-month high last week amid a recovery in stock markets. 
 (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru;
Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Shinjini Ganguli and Alison
Williams)
 ((sruthi.shankar@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223
8780; outside U.S. +91 80 6182 2787;
Shristi.AcharA@thomsonreuters.com))
 
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