Aug 8 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening up 13 points at 7,732 on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers.
* SMITHS GROUP: British engineering firm Smiths Group Plc SMIN.L is close to abandoning talks with U.S.-based ICU Medical Inc ICUI.O about a 7 billion pound ($9 billion) merger of their healthcare divisions, Sky News reported on Monday. SKY PLC: Twenty-First Century Fox Inc FOXA.O on Tuesday posted an offer document and form of acceptance for its 14 pounds a share offer to buy UK's Sky SKYB.L . BHP: Iron miner Samarco, a joint venture of Brazil's Vale SA VALE3.SA and Australia's BHP Billiton Ltd BLT.L , expects to obtain next year all licenses needed to resume operations suspended after an environmental disaster, according to a written statement to Reuters on Tuesday. The UK blue chip index closed up 0.7 percent at 7,718.48 points on Tuesday, as miners and oil stocks tracked rising commodity prices, although some disappointing updates including from Intertek and Hargreaves kept a lid on gains. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
* UK CORPORATE DIARY:
MTN Group
Q2 Earnings
Glencore
HY Earnings
Hastings
HY Earnings Secure Trust Bank
HY Earnings
Bellway PLC
HY Earnings
Pagegroup PLC
HY Earnings
Prudential PLC
HY Earnings
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