March 28 - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen

opening up on Thursday, with futures rising 0.33%.

* THAMES WATER: Thames Water said shareholders had refused

to stump up a promised 500 million pounds of equity, heightening

concerns about its survival, after it failed to agree future

bills and conditions with the regulator.

* CMA: Britain's competition regulator said that it has

decided

not to open

an in-depth 'phase 2' investigation into Aviva's

acquisition of AIG Life UK.

* SPIRENT COMMUNICATIONS ( SPNUF ): Keysight Technologies ( KEYS )

will buy Spirent Communications ( SPNUF ) in an all-cash deal,

valuing the British telecommunications testing firm at 1.16

billion pounds ($1.46 billion).

* JD SPORTS: JD Sports said trading conditions

remained

challenging and reported like-for-like sales in the fourth

quarter rose 0.1%.

*LLOYD'S OF LONDON: Lloyd's of London

swung

to a pre-tax profit of 10.7 billion pounds in 2023, the

commercial insurance market said, boosted by strong underwriting

and investment performance.

* AO WORLD: AO World expects annual adjusted pretax

profit to be at the top-end of its previous forecast.

* ENQUEST ( ENQUF ): British North Sea-focused oil producer

EnQuest ( ENQUF )

narrowed

its annual loss to $30.8 million last year, down from a

$41.2 million loss in 2022, it said on Thursday.

* OIL: Oil prices edged up, following two consecutive

sessions of decline, as investors reassessed the latest data on

U.S. crude oil and gasoline inventories and returned to buying

mode.

* GOLD: Gold prices

steadied

, as investors digested comments from Federal Reserve

Governor Christopher Waller on interest rate cuts.

* METALS: Copper prices rose supported by output cut plans

agreed by top copper smelters in China.

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please

click on:

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times

> Other business headlines

($1 = 0.7927 pounds)

(Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru)