UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Dec 12
(Adds company news items, futures)
Dec 12 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening up 13 points on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures up 0.22 percent ahead of the cash market open.
* GLENCORE: Miner and trader Glencore on Tuesday in an update for investors said its 2017 marketing EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) would be at the top end of its previous guidance at $2.8 billion.
* ASHTEAD: British industrial equipment hire group Ashtead Group Plc launched a share buyback programme and hiked its annual results forecast, helped by hurricane clear-up activity in the United States.
* CARPETRIGHT: Britain's largest floor coverings retailer Carpetright forecast full-year 2017-18 profit towards the bottom end of market expectations, saying consumer confidence remains fragile and competition intense.
* SKY: Comcast Corp dropped its bid for most of the assets of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, that includes a stake in European pay-TV provider Sky PLC, leaving Walt Disney Co as the sole suitor to acquire the assets.
* HSBC: HSBC drew a line under its punishment for lapses in anti-money laundering controls on Monday, saying the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) would end its deferred prosecution agreement, lifting the threat of further penalties.
* BHP: Samarco Mineração SA, a joint venture between Brazilian miner Vale and Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton , on Monday received two waste system permits in a small step toward resuming operations halted after a November 2015 tailings mine dam collapsed, killing 19 people.
* BREXIT: Prime Minister Theresa May hailed "a new sense of optimism" in Brexit talks, telling parliament on Monday an agreement to move negotiations on to future trade ties would reassure those concerned Britain may leave with no deal.
* OIL: Brent crude oil prices jumped above $65 per barrel for the first time since 2015 after the shutdown of the Forties North Sea pipeline knocked out significant supply from a market that was already tightening due to OPEC-led production cuts.
* GOLD: Gold was slightly higher on Tuesday, just up from its lowest in nearly five months in the previous session, and ahead of the start of a two-day U.S. Federal Reserve meeting.
* The UK blue chip index closed 0.7 points higher on Monday, as a weaker pound, rising oil prices and growing confidence in the financial sector helped pushed British shares higher and well ahead of their European peers.
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times
> Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : http://topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Justin George Varghese)
