Oct 18 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 5 points higher at 7,060 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers.
* BHP: Samarco, a joint venture between Brazil's Vale VALE3.SA and mining major BHP BHP.AX , BLT.L , could resume iron ore production at a third of its capacity at the beginning of 2020, Vale's CEO said, though BHP declined to give a date. BAE: Britain's biggest defence company BAE Systems BAES.L said it will send senior representatives to the Future Investment Initiative conference in Saudi Arabia. ACACIA MINING: Tanzanian authorities have charged three of Acacia Mining's ACAA.L local subsidiaries, an employee and a former staffer for money laundering and tax evasion, the gold miner said on Wednesday. OIL: Oil inched up on Thursday amid ongoing tensions over the death of a prominent Saudi journalist, with prices steadying after a big drop overnight due to a jump in U.S. crude stockpiles. GOLD: Gold prices held steady in a narrow range on Thursday as Asian shares eased, while the dollar firmed after minutes of the Federal Reserve's September meeting reinforced expectations of a tighter U.S. monetary policy. EX-DIVS: BAE Systems BAES.L and Smiths Group SMIN.L will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 1.58 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations. The UK blue chip index closed 0.1 percent lower on Wednesday, with BP BP.L and Shell RDSa.L the biggest drags. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
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