April 17 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is

seen opening higher on Friday, with futures up 0.1%.

* SCHRODERS ( SHNWF ): Schroders ( SHNWF ) shareholders approved a 9.9

billion pound sale of the British asset manager to U.S. rival

Nuveen.

* ANGLO AMERICAN: Codelco and Anglo American

plan to submit separate environmental studies to

regulators for their planned shared copper mine in Chile,

documents seen by Reuters show.

* PUBLIC AND DEFENCE SPENDING: British finance minister

Rachel Reeves on Thursday raised the prospect of cuts to some

areas of public spending to invest more in the military and said

she was working on ways to counter the country's energy

vulnerabilities caused by the Iran war.

* INVESTMENTS: The finance ministers of Britain and

Australia have agreed to work together more closely to funnel

investment from Australia's giant pension funds into new

infrastructure, housing and energy projects in the UK.

* OIL: Oil prices fell in early trade on optimism the Middle

East conflict could be nearing an end after a 10-day ceasefire

between Lebanon and Israel took effect and President Donald

Trump said the U.S. and Iran may meet for talks on the weekend.

* METALS: Copper eased amid a firmer dollar even as hopes of

a peace deal between the United States and Iran kept prices on

track for a fourth weekly gain.

* GOLD: Gold held largely steady and was on track for a

fourth straight weekly gain, as hopes for a U.S.-Iran peace deal

eased fears of higher inflation and elevated interest rates.

* UK'S FTSE 100: UK's main stock indexes closed higher

lifted by energy stocks, as doubts about lasting resolution in

the Middle East sent oil prices higher.

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please

click on:

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times

> Other business headlines

(Compiled by Neeshita Beura in Bengaluru)