BUZZ-The wage trade: the stocks exposed to a UK salary hike

** Retailers, outsourcers, pub cos and transport groups mostlikely stocks to be hit by a hike in the UK minimum wage

** Minimum wage to rise by 38 pct to £9 per hour by 2020,Chancellor George Osborne announced in the July 8 Budget

** Stocks Buzz Minimum Wage Basket tracks 20 companieslikely to be impacted by the rule change, based onrecommendations from Barclays, Citi and Liberum strategists

** Companies screened for high UK exposure, low margins andhigh labour cost to revenue ratio

** Basket likely to underperform on a 3-5 year view as wagehikes take place, though some short-term weakness already beingseen as companies and analysts digest the news

** JD Wetherspoon fell 8.5 pct after warning newlaws would hurt its margins

** Numis cut Mitchells & Butlers' 2017E PBT by 13pct, stock has also seen downgrades at Deutsche Bank and Nomuraalong with Restaurant Group

** Dates to watch for further short-term guidance: Capita (H1 July 29), Babcock (FY July 30), Serco (H1 Aug 11) Rank Group (FY Aug 20), RestaurantGroup (H1 Aug 28)

** Stocks Buzz Minimum Wage Basket - Constituents: http://link.reuters.com/nyc35w Performance: http://link.reuters.com/kyc35w (RM: alasdair.pal.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)