March 9 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening
unchanged to up by 0.1 percent on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers.
For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on The UK blue chip index closed 0.9 percent lower at 6,125.44 on Tuesday, as
big mining companies came under pressure after a report showed exports had
fallen in China, the world's biggest consumer of metals.
* LSEG: Deutsche Boerse DB1Gn.DE and the London Stock Exchange LSE.L are
targeting cost savings of more than 300 million euros ($331 million) once a
merger of the two exchanges is completed, three people familiar with the matter
said.
* TESCO: Britain's biggest supermarket group Tesco TSCO.L is looking to
buy O2 out of a joint venture by acquiring the part of Tesco Mobile it does not
already own, the Telegraph reported.
* BANK OF ENGLAND: The Bank of England (BoE) is still more likely to raise
interest rates than to cut them over the next two years, and has plenty of scope
to stimulate the economy if needed, central bank policymaker Martin Weale said.
Weale also said a recent recovery in oil and commodity prices confirmed his
view that the sell-off in financial markets at the start of 2016, which some
investors saw as a warning sign about the world economy, was speculative.
* CHINA: China can accept slightly lower economic growth as long as
employment remains stable and incomes continue to rise, a senior official of the
country's cabinet research unit said on Wednesday.
* GOLD: Gold edged lower on Wednesday, slipping with the euro as
expectations that the European Central Bank is almost certain to ease policy
this week weighed on the single currency.
* COPPER: London copper was steady on Wednesday, after prices fell the most
in a day since November in the previous session when grim Chinese trade data for
February renewed fears over economic growth in the world's top consumer of
metals.
* COMMODITIES/IRAN: Global oil traders have entered into rare barter deals
with the National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC), supplying Iran with much-needed
gasoline in exchange for high-quality fuel oil, after most economic sanctions
against Tehran were lifted in January.
Commodity traders Swiss-based Vitol VITOLV.UL and Glencore GLEN.L , for
example, have won the right to lift a combined total of at least 200,000 tonnes
per month of Iranian fuel oil from March through May, according to four trading
sources with knowledge of the deals.
* OIL: Oil prices were only slightly higher on Wednesday as support from
falling U.S. production was countered by a strengthening U.S.-dollar and
concerns over slowing demand.
* BREXIT: All alternatives to Britain's membership of the European Union are
second best and risk damaging the competitiveness of the City of London's
finance industry, although Brexit would not be ruinous for the economy,
TheCityUK lobby said.
* ECB: Financial markets expect the European Central Bank to cut its deposit
rate by at least 10 basis points and expand its asset-buying programme this
week, but they still do not expect it to hit its inflation target in the near
future.
* CHINA DRUGS/IMPORTS: China has signaled its intent to cut prices of
medicines used to treat serious diseases, such as cancer, as part of a wider
drive to reduce the cost of healthcare for patients in the world's
second-biggest economy.
China's cancer drug market is led by Swiss firm Roche Holding AG ROG.S ,
followed by China's Qilu Pharmaceutical, Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine 600276.SS ,
Jilin Aodong Pharmaceutical Group 000623.SZ and Britain's AstraZeneca Plc
AZN.L , Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) said in a 2015 report. UK CORPORATE DIARY:
4imprint Group PLC FOUR.L Full Year
StatPro Group PLC SOG.L Full Year
Tri Star Resources PLC TSTRE.L Full Year
SIG PLC SHI.L Full Year
Restaurant Group PLC RTN.L Full Year
G4S (CO:G4S) PLC GFS.L Full Year
DS Smith PLC SMDS.L Trading Statement
Hochschild Mining PLC HOCM.L Full Year
Prudential PLC PRU.L Full Year
TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times PRESS/FT
> Other business headlines PRESS/GB
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