UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on March 12

March 12 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening up 8points higher at 7,233 on Monday, according to financial bookmakers, withfutures up 0.37 percent ahead of the cash market open.

* ASTRAZENECA: AstraZeneca now expects a key lung cancer study oftwo immunotherapy drugs to produce overall survival results in the second halfof 2018, rather than the first half.

* GKN-MELROSE: Melrose Industries raised its offer for GKN,the British engineering company which it is pursuing through a hostile takeover,stating that the new bid represented a final offer and would not be increasedunder any circumstances.

* HIKMA: Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc said on Monday it plans a newclinical study on its generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's GSK.L popular lungdrug Advair, as it looks to resolve an ongoing dispute with the Food and DrugAdministration over plans to launch the drug in the U.S.

* RECKITT BENCKISER: Reckitt Benckiser has no regrets about its $17billion acquisition of Mead Johnson last year, its chief executive said, eventhough there are concerns it may now be too stretched to buy Pfizer's PFE.Ncoveted consumer health business.

* SAUDI ARAMCO IPO: British officials have been informed by their Saudicounterparts that oil giant Saudi Aramco's IPO-ARMO.SE initial public offeringis likely to be delayed until 2019, the Financial Times reported.

* GOLD: Gold prices were steady on Monday as the U.S. dollar inched lower,with the latest U.S. jobs report easing fears of inflation and faster U.S. ratehikes.

* OIL: Oil markets edged up on Monday on the back of a drop in the number ofU.S. rigs drilling for more production and as the U.S. economy continued tocreate jobs, which industry hopes will drive higher fuel demand.

* The UK blue chip FTSE 100 index closed 0.3 percent higher at7,224.51 points on Friday, joining in a broader equity rally followingsupportive U.S. jobs data which calmed investor nerves over tighter monetarypolicy.

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times

> Other business headlinesMultimedia 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 Siju Varghese)