(Adds company news items and futures)
Sept 3 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 15 points higher at 7,297 on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures FFIc1 up 0.28% ahead of the cash market open.
* LLOYDS BANKING: Lloyds Banking Group LLOY.L has agreed to buy Tesco (LON:TSCO) Bank's 3.7 billion pounds ($4.54 billion) UK residential mortgage portfolio, in a move likely to consolidate its dominance of Britain's ultra-competitive market for home loans. FERGUSON: British plumbing products company Ferguson Plc FERG.L revealed plans to separate its UK operations and said Chief Executive Officer John Martin will step down in November this year. IQE: IQE Plc IQE.L reported a first-half loss, months after it flagged order delays at its wireless unit as U.S. restrictions on China's Huawei HWT.UL hit the chip industry's supply chain. GLENCORE: Global mining and trading giant Glencore GLEN.L has won a dispute with Australia's Taxation Office after a judge found it had paid the correct amount of tax on purchases of copper concentrate from a mine that it owns in New South Wales state. RETAIL SALES: British retailers saw their sales flat-line in August as shoppers cut back on non-essentials and some households stockpiled food ahead of Brexit, surveys showed. BREXIT: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will move to call an Oct. 14 election if lawmakers block the option of leaving the European Union without a deal, a senior government source said on Monday. BREXIT: British finance minister Sajid Javid told representatives of the country's financial services industry on Monday that the sector was a top priority for him as the country prepares to leave the European Union, a person familiar with the discussions said. GOLD: Gold prices fell on the back of a firmer dollar, but fears of a global economic slowdown fuelled by an intensifying U.S.-China trade war kept prices near multi-year highs. OIL: Oil prices were mixed as the ongoing U.S.-China trade war cast a pall over markets, with soft South Korean data adding to concerns over emerging markets and a rise in OPEC output. London's FTSE 100 surged 1% on Monday, shrugging off news of the latest U.S.-China trade tariffs, as exporter stocks firmed following a slide in sterling on the prospect of an election against the backdrop of Brexit. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: LIVE/
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