March 19 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is

seen opening lower on Thursday, with futures down 0.9%.

*HSBC ( HSBC ): HSBC ( HSBC ) is weighing a wave of deep job cuts over

the coming years that could ultimately impact around 20,000

roles, or about 10% of its total workforce, according to

Bloomberg News.

*ASTRAZENECA ( AZN ): AstraZeneca ( AZN ) said it will build a cell

therapy manufacturing and supply base and innovation centre in

Shanghai.

*SHELL: Macquarie Group ( MCQEF ) has expressed early interest in

bidding for Shell's European onshore renewable energy

business, according to people familiar with the matter.

*UNILEVER ( UL ): Unilever ( UL ) and Kraft Heinz ( KHC ) had

recently held talks over a potential merger of parts of their

food businesses, the Financial Times reported.

* BP: Australia's competition regulator said it has launched an

investigation into allegations of anti-competitive conduct by

major fuel suppliers which includes BP's Australian unit, among

others.

*BP: BP will move its global headquarters by early 2028

to new offices in London, as per BP's emailed statement to

Reuters.

*ANGLO AMERICAN: Anglo American expects to get final

regulatory approval for its merger with Teck Resources around

the year-end, the company's Brazil CEO Ana Sanches said.

*STEEL IMPORTS: Britain will lower its tariff-free quota on

imported steel and double the tariff on imports exceeding that

quota, the government said.

*COMMODITIES: Oil and gold prices rose, while copper slid to its

lowest in more than two months.

*EX-DIVS: Standard Charterred, Beazley, M&G

, and Melrose Industries.

*FTSE: The UK's main equity indexes fell on Wednesday, erasing

earlier gains.

* UK CORPORATE DIARY:

Energean ( EERGF ) FY results

IG Group ( IGGRF ) FY results

DFS Furniture HY results

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please

click on:

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times

> Other business headlines

(Compiled by Roshni Srivastava in Bengaluru)