UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Aug 31

Aug 31 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening down 13 points, or 0.19 percent, on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers.

* The UK blue chip index closed 0.25 percent lower on Tuesday at 6,820.79 points, as a drop in major mining and housebuilding stocks weighed on the market. ARM: Shareholders in British technology company ARM ARM.L approved its sale to Japan's SoftBank 9984.T on Tuesday, marking the end of independence for the chip designer that powered the smartphone revolution. ASTRAZENECA: U.S. regulators said on Tuesday that AstraZeneca Plc AZN.L will pay $5.52 million to resolve a foreign bribery probe into improper payments by its sales and marketing staff to state-employed healthcare officials in China and Russia. SHELL: Motiva Enterprises LLC MOTIV.UL said on Tuesday the division of its U.S. refining assets between Royal Dutch Shell Plc RDSa.L and Saudi Aramco IPO-ARMO.SE would take place on April 1, 2017, months later than originally expected. PRUDENTIAL: Staff at British insurer Prudential PRU.L are taking industrial action over plans to move 76 jobs to Mumbai from the southern English town of Reading, the Unite union said. BHP: Federal prosecutors investigating the deadly dam spill in November at the Samarco iron ore mine, owned by Vale SA VALE5.SA and BHP Billiton BLT.L

BHP.AX , will decide in coming weeks whether to charge the company and executives, a prosecutor in the case said on Tuesday. BREXIT: After a summer of political earthquakes followed by a few weeks of holiday calm, Prime Minister Theresa May will meet members of her government on Wednesday to discuss how Britain is to leave the European Union. UK CONSUMER MORALE: British consumer morale in August recovered some of its post-Brexit slump, a survey showed on Wednesday, a latest sign that consumers are adjusting to the decision to leave the European Union. COPPER: London copper edged up on Wednesday but was set for a monthly drop in August, pushing it into negative territory for the year, while zinc, tin and lead eyed monthly advances. OIL: Crude oil futures fell in early trade on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar held around three-week highs and industry stocks data indicated a build in U.S. crude inventories. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets

* UK CORPORATE DIARY:

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