UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Sept. 27

Sept 27 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening up 44 points on Tuesday, or as much as 0.7 percent, according to financial bookmakers.

* The UK blue chip index closed down 1.3 percent on Monday at 6818.04, its worst one-day percentage decline since late June when Britain voted to leave the European Union. Lloyds LLOY.L pushed banks lower after a downgrade by Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS ) and miners tracked weaker metals prices. VODAFONE: Vodafone 's VOD.L $7.2 billion cash injection into its Indian business has turned up the heat just days ahead of an $84 billion airwave auction which could decide who wins and loses in one of the world's fastest-growing telecoms markets. BHP: Samarco Mineração SA, the Brazilian iron ore mining joint venture owned by Vale SA VALE5.SA and BHP Billiton Ltd BHP.AX BLT.L , that suspended operations in November following a dam disaster, missed an interest payment on a $500 million bond that was due on Monday, trustee Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK ) Corp said. CENTRICA: Centrica CNA.L , Britain's largest utility company, is in the process of selling all of its Canadian oil and gas assets and exiting operations in the country, a company spokesman said on Monday. BREXIT: France and Germany will make the case for the European Union's most ambitious defence plan in almost two decades on Tuesday, aiming to persuade sceptical easterners and avoid a showdown with Britain over its military future outside the bloc. OIL: Crude futures slipped in Asian trade on Tuesday as investors took profits after prices climbed more than 3 percent in the previous session. The dollar was also weighing on oil prices after rising against a basket of currencies .DXY , suggesting markets were judging Democrat Hillary Clinton as the winner in the first U.S. presidential debate with Republican candidate Donald Trump. UK OIL: Industry group UK Oil and Gas has slashed its estimate of Britain's existing oil and gas reserves by a third, saying weak oil prices have made it less likely that some resources will ever be retrieved. METALS: Nickel dropped more than 2 percent on Tuesday, falling for a second day on speculation that expected mine closures in the Philippines, the world's biggest nickel ore supplier, may not limit supply as much as originally thought. Copper slid about half a percent, while aluminium eased after climbing to its highest in almost five weeks in the previous session on dollar weakness and strong European demand. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets