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March 7 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seenopening down 18 points on Wednesday, according to financialbookmakers. * IAG: The chief executive of British Airways-owner IAG is confident a deal will be done to secure Britain'sflying rights after Brexit, he said on Tuesday, dismissing arecent media report and a rival airline's prediction ofdisruption. * MELROSE-GKN: Melrose Industries will considermaking binding commitments about the future of GKN if itsucceeds in its bid to take over the British engineering firm,the chief executive of the turnaround specialist told lawmakers. * WPP: As Procter & Gamble Co looks to invest more ininternal analytics programmes, the move could pressure ad giantsWPP Plc and Publicis Groupe SA, The Telegraphreported on Tuesday. http://bit.ly/2Ftd4KZ * RBS: Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc has reacheda $500 million settlement with New York state to resolve chargesit misled investors by selling risky mortgage securities thatcontributed to the 2008 global financial crisis. * SAINSBURY: Sainsbury's, Britain's second largestsupermarket group, plans to increase the base rate of pay forstaff working in stores but stop paid breaks and an annualbonus, in a move it said would leave most staff better off. * OIL: Oil prices fell on Wednesday, pulled down by weakerstock markets after a key advocate for free trade in the U.S.government resigned, stoking concerns Washington will go aheadwith import tariffs and risk a trade war. * GOLD: Gold prices inched up on Wednesday to their highestin a week as the dollar weakened and equities dropped after U.S.President Donald Trump said he would push ahead with punitivetariffs on imports, rekindling fears of a potential trade war. * The UK blue chip index closed 0.4 percent higher onTuesday, outperforming European markets, as world stocksshrugged off fears of a trade war and concerns about politicalrisk in Italy following its inconclusive general election. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, pleaseclick on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: Tritax Big Box REIT PLC Full Year 2017 Earnings Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC Full Year 2017 Earnings Restaurant Group PLC Full Year 2017 Earnings ST Ives PLC Half Year 2018 Earnings Bioquell PLC Full Year 2017 Earnings Hill & Smith Holdings PLC Full Year 2017 Earnings Ophir Energy PLC Full Year 2017 Earnings Legal & General Group PLC Full Year 2017 Earnings CLS Holdings PLC Full Year 2017 Earnings Pagegroup PLC Full Year 2017 Earnings DS Smith PLC Trading Statement esure Group PLC Full Year 2017 Earnings Stock Spirits Group PLC Full Year 2017 Earnings 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)