Oct 27 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening down 0.5 percent on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers.
* The UK blue chip index closed down 0.85 percent at 6,958.09 points on Wednesday, hit by weakness in banks and mining stocks after Lloyds Banking Group Plc LLOY.L and Antofagasta Plc ANTO.L fell after disappointing earnings updates. BHP BILLITON: BHP Billiton BHP.AX BLT.L said on Thursday its chief commercial officer, Dean Dalla Valle, who has led the company's response to the Samarco dam disaster in Brazil, will leave the company in March 2017. ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND: Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc RBS.L held fresh discussions with a group of institutional investors to settle one of many outstanding cases against the bank over its 12 billion pound rights issue, Sky News reported. BARCLAYS: Barclays Plc BARC.L and UBS AG UBSG.S have agreed to settle U.S. litigation by bondholders who accused the banks of conspiring with rivals to rig the Libor benchmark interest rate, lawyers for the plaintiffs said in court filings on Wednesday. RANDGOLD: Randgold Resources RRS.L has agreed to pay the Malian government 15 billion CFA francs ($25 million) to help to resolve a tax dispute that resulted in the company's Bamako offices and bank accounts being closed by authorities this month, chief executive Mark Bristow said in a statement on Wednesday. ICAP/TULLETT PREBON: Interdealer broker ICAP Plc's IAP.L sale of its global hybrid voice broking business to Tullett Prebon Plc TLPR.L is likely to miss the year-end target as UK regulators are examining the licenses needed for the tie-up, Bloomberg reported. LADBROKES: Bookmaker Ladbrokes LAD.L said Britain's competition regulator had cleared its acquisition of Gala Coral, paving the way to create a betting group that will seek to build on its dominance of Britain's high streets to expand its online business. IAG: British Airways has agreed to pay 300 million pounds ($367 million) per year into its pension scheme, plus top-ups, under a new plan which leaves room for the airline to pay dividends to owner IAG ICAG.L . EX-DIVS: Barratt Developments Plc BDEV.L , ITV Plc ITV.L , Provident Financial Plc PFG.L , Unilever Plc ULVR.L and Wolseley Plc WOS.L will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 3.62 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations UK PROPERTY: Demand from British businesses for commercial property has partly recovered from its slump after June's vote to leave the European Union and foreign investors are looking to take advantage of the weak pound, industry data showed on Thursday. UK ECONOMY: Britain escaped a severe economic slowdown in the three months after the Brexit referendum shock, official figures are expected to show on Thursday, further diminishing the chance of a fresh interest rate cut by the Bank of England next week. UK CAR EXPORT: British car production rose by an annual 0.9 percent in September with a rise in exports compensating for a fall in demand at home, an industry body said on Thursday. UK INVESTMENT: British finance minister Philip Hammond should encourage businesses to invest and spend more on infrastructure when he delivers his first budget statement since Britain's vote to leave the European Union, an employers group said. OIL: Oil prices were below $50 per barrel on Thursday on doubts OPEC will be able to bring together its members and Russia to organise a coordinated crude production cut. O/R
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