Aug 24 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 18-20 points lower on Wednesday, or 0.3 percent lower, according to financial bookmakers.
* The UK blue chip index closed up 0.6 percent at 6,868.51 points on Tuesday, helped by a rise in housebuilders after strong results from Persimmon PSN.L suggested that the sector was coping with the uncertainty from Britain's vote to leave the European Union. SABMILLER: Aberdeen Asset Management ADN.L said on Tuesday it was pleased a court had ruled SABMiller SAB.L shareholders can be treated as two separate groups when they vote on a takeover by Anheuser Busch InBev ABI.BR , and still plans to reject the deal. LLOYD'S OF LONDON: American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) AIG.N is in early talks to sell Lloyd's of London Ltd's SOLYD.UL insurance operations to Canada Pension Fund (CPPIB), the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. GLENCORE: Glencore Plc GLEN.L has agreed to sell a 30 percent stake and all of the gold from its Ernest Henry copper mine in Australia to Evolution Mining EVN.AX for A$880 million ($670 million), advancing the Swiss giant's effort to pay down debt. CAIRN ENERGY: ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)' COP.N plan to sell its stake in an oil find off Senegal to Woodside Petroleum hit a speed-bump on Tuesday as a junior partner attempted to buy time to pre-empt the deal at the same time it announced an increase in the size of the field. The SNE joint venture's operator and 40 percent stakeholder, Britain's Cairn Energy PLC CNE.L , has said the field could start producing by 2020. UK BONDS: The Bank of England paid a high price to buy government bonds from investors on Tuesday, the latest sign that its plan to soften the Brexit hit to Britain's economy faces more of a challenge than initially thought. UK BANKS: British banks could lose a good number of European and domestic corporate customers in the aftermath of Britain's vote to leave the European Union in June, according to a private study released on Tuesday. OIL: Oil prices fell early on Wednesday as an unexpected build in U.S. crude stocks weighed on markets, along with concerns that Chinese crude demand could falter as Beijing clamps down on alleged tax evasion in the oil industry. METALS: London copper hovered near its lowest in six weeks on Wednesday, with a stronger dollar hitting base metals and pushing zinc and tin away from their highest levels in more than a year. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
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