Sept 26 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is

seen opening higher on Thursday, with futures up 0.3%.

* THAMES WATER: S&P and Moody's slashed the credit rating of

Thames Water with both firms warning that it was fast running

out of money and on the brink of default.

* AI: U.S. private equity firm Blackstone has

confirmed a $13.3 billion investment for an artificial

intelligence data centre in northeast England, the British prime

minister's office said.

* CONSUMER SENTIMENT: British consumers have grown more

gloomy over the past month following the removal of a welfare

benefit for pensioners and warning of tax rises in next month's

budget, a new survey from a trade body showed.

* CAR PRODUCTION: British car productions fell for the sixth

consecutive month in August, affected by summer shutdowns and

factories prepping to switch to newer models, industry data

showed.

* SHELL: Trinidad and Tobago selected oil and gas producer

Shell as the preferred bidder for a shallow water

block, three people close to the process said.

* BP: BP said the company has secured offshore

facilities and removed some non-essential personnel from Argos,

Atlantis, Mad Dog, Na Kika and Thunder Horse platforms in the

Gulf of Mexico in response to Hurricane Helene.

* OIL: Oil prices were little changed as a US stockpile drop

outweighed demand concerns.

* GOLD: Gold lingered near record highs on expectations of

another big U.S. rate cut this year, although gains were limited

ahead of remarks by key Federal Reserve policymakers.

* EX-DIVS: Barratt and Rightmove ( RTMVF ) will trade

without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-outs on

Thursday.

* FTSE: The UK's main stock indexes ended lower on Wednesday

hurt by energy shares tracking lower oil prices.

* UK CORPORATE DIARY:

Halma Trading update

Robert Walters Capital markets event

Mitchells & Butlers ( MBPFF ) Q4 trading update

Pennon Trading update

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please

click on:

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times

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