UK Stocks-Factors to watch on March 26

March 26 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening down 126 points on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers.

* DYSON: Vacuum cleaner company Dyson said on Wednesday it had received an order for 10,000 ventilators and was working with regulators to get the design approved, according to an internal email seen by Reuters. BABCOCK: British engineer Babcock International BAB.L said on Wednesday it had joined forces with a leading medical equipment company to design and supply thousands of critical care ventilators to Britain's publicly funded health service. SAINSBURY'S: British supermarket group Sainsbury 's SBRY.L said on Wednesday it will temporarily close a small number of convenience stores at locations experiencing extremely low shopper numbers during the coronavirus outbreak, such as at railway stations. LONDON ZOO: The world's oldest zoo is shut to the public for the first time since World War Two as London locks down because of the coronavirus pandemic, but for the roughly 18,000 animals housed there, life must go on. BOE: The Bank of England and Britain's finance ministry will resume their coordinated drive on Thursday to prevent the coronavirus-related shutdown of swathes of the economy from triggering a long and deep recession. OIL: Oil prices slipped on Thursday following three days of gains, with the prospect of rapidly dwindling demand due to coronavirus travel bans and lockdowns offsetting hopes a U.S. $2 trillion emergency stimulus will shore up economic activity. GOLD: Gold prices fell on Thursday as expectations of a surge in U.S. jobless claims due to the coronavirus outbreak eclipsed a massive U.S. stimulus package and kept alive a rush for cash among investors. EX-DIVS: British American Tobacco (JO: SNHJ ) BATS.L , British Land Company BLND.L , Ferguson FERG.L , Prudential PRU.L , Pearson PSON.L , Royal Bank of Scotland RBS.L , Schroders SDR.L will trade without entitlement to its latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 9.8 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations. The UK blue-chip index .FTSE closed up 4.5% on Wednesday. London shares extended gains for a second session on Wednesday as an imminent U.S. stimulus package and moves by companies to deal with the financial effects of the coronavirus crisis offset the impact on markets of a surge in cases domestically. The Financial Conduct Authority had said on March 21 that Britain's listed companies should not publish preliminary financial statements for at least two weeks to better assess how the coronavirus epidemic is affecting their business. UK CORPORATE DIARY: