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Oct 18 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 5 points higher at 7,060 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, with FTSE 100 futures .FFIc1 down 0.06 percent ahead of the cash market open.
* DOMINOS: Domino's Pizza Inc's DPZ.N UK franchise Domino's Pizza Group DOM.L trimmed its full year forecast for pretax profit in line with market expectations on Wednesday while announcing a new 25 million pounds ($32.70 million) share buyback plan. RANK: British bingo and casino operator Rank Group RNK.L on Thursday reported a 4.9 percent decline in comparable group revenue for the 16 weeks to mid-October, hurt partly by a drop in customer visits at its Mecca bingo venues. GVC: Gambling firm GVC Holdings GVC.L reported a 28 percent jump in online net gaming revenue in the third quarter thanks to the soccer World Cup and said former Ladbrokes (LON:LCL) chief financial officer Paul Bowtell would leave the company next year. UNILEVER: Unilever ULVR.L , UNc.AS reported a pick-up in third-quarter sales on Thursday, as higher prices helped blunt commodity cost increases. HSBC: HSBC HSBA.L is set to be the first foreign company to list its shares in China as part of a new stock exchange link between London and Shanghai, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. 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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