German stocks - Factors to watch on October 8

FRANKFURT Oct 8 (Reuters) - The DAX top-30 index looked set to open 0.7 percent lower on Monday, according to premarket data from brokerage Lang & Schwarz at 0615 GMT.

The following are some of the factors that may move German stocks:

VOLKSWAGEN

Indicated 0.7 percent lower

The group's Audi unit is to publish global vehicle sales for September.

Separately, Volkswagen could start selling its Golf 7 plug-in hybrid car from 2014, a year earlier than previously planned, German magazine WirtschaftsWoche reported, citing no sources.

In addition, the company halted production in Germany of its Passat cars last week as part of a wider move to cut its group output target for the year by about 300,000 vehicles because of the European market slump, company sources said.

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MUNICH RE

Indicated 0.4 percent lower

The group welcomes proposals for compulsory insurances for operators of nuclear plants, board member Torsten Jeworrek told Financial Times Deutschland.

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LUFTHANSA

Indicated 0.7 percent lower

The group is seeking to unify standards across its group of five airlines for the engines and cockpits of planes it would deploy in future as part of efforts to boost its purchasing power over aircraft makers.

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SAP

Indicated 0.3 percent lower

The company's business in Germany, where it makes about 14 percent of revenues, is "stable", SAP's head of Germany, Harry Thomsen, told Euro am Sonntag in an interview.

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HEIDELBERGCEMENT

Indicated 0.7 percent lower

The economy would recover fast should Greece exit the euro zone, the company's Chief Financial Officer Lorenz Naeger told Boersen-Zeitung in an interview published on Saturday, adding that "everyone" was prepared for such a move.

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INFINEON

Indicated 1.2 percent lower

The company will postpone by six months pay raises planned for October for employees with salaries above the general pay scale, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported, citing an internal email.

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EADS

Indicated 0.4 percent lower in Frankfurt

Britain will block the proposed $45 billion merger between EADS and BAE Systems if key "red line" priorities are not met, defence minister Philip Hammond said on Sunday, just three days before a deadline for detailing the deal.

Separately, the company is continuing "constructive talks" with governments over its proposed $45 billion merger deal with BAE Systems and remains convinced that it is an excellent deal for Europe, a spokesman said on Saturday.

In addition, France will not rule out buying shares from Lagardere that would raise its stake in a merger of EADS and BAE, a French government source said on Friday, raising the prospect of a deal-breaking clash with Britain.

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METRO

Indicated 0.7 percent higher

Billionaire investor Nicolas Berggruen said a merger of his retail chain Karstadt and Metro's Kaufhof department stores would still "make a lot of sense", according to the WAZ newspaper group.

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FREENET

Indicated 0.8 percent lower

The company is under no pressure to merge with major shareholder Drillisch, Freenet Chief Executive Christoph Vilanek told Welt am Sonntag in an interview, adding the groups were currently not assessing whether a merger made sense.

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AIR BERLIN

Indicated 1.2 percent higher

The group formed a commercial partnership with Abu Dhabi-based Etihad and Air France KLM SA.

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SMT SCHARF

Indicated 0.1 percent lower

It will be "hardly feasible" to keep results stable in 2013 compared with 2012, CEO Christian Dreyer told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in an interview, adding the third-quarter was in-line with the company's expectations.

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OVERSEAS STOCK MARKETS

Dow Jones +0.3 pct, S&P 500 -0.03 pct, Nasdaq -0.4 pct at Friday's close.

Nikkei +0.4 pct at Friday's close. The index is closed on Monday due to a public holiday.

GM'S OPEL

Opel does not feel restricted in its effort to expand beyond Europe, the unit's sales chief Alfred Rieck told Autogazette in an interview, adding Opel would expand to those market where it could be profitable.

Rieck also said he was confident the company could sell more than 80,000 vehicles in Russia this year.

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IPO

German lighting designer Hess aims to start trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange on Oct. 19, the group's IPO prospectus showed.

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AIRLINES

Emirates Airline has seen sales rising 21 percent in Germany this year, the group's passenger sales boss Thierry Antinori told German magazine WirtschaftsWoche, not providing additional details about the time frame.

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GERMAN ECONOMIC DATA

August exports (seasonally adjusted) were up 2.4 pct m/m, imports were up 0.3 pct m/m.

Separately, August industrial output due 1000 GMT. Seen down 0.8 pct m/m.

EUROPEAN FACTORS TO WATCH

DIARIES

REUTERS TOP NEWS ($1 = 0.7657 euros) (Reporting by Marilyn Gerlach and Christoph Steitz)