UK Stocks -- Factors to watch on June 12

LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE is
seen opening little changed on Friday as the index continues to be stuck in a
tight trading range after a strong rally between March 9 and early May.

Financial bookmakers see the index opening between 4 points higher and 10
points lower after it closed up 25.12 points at 4461.87 on Thursday.

The index is up around 29 percent since hitting a six-year trough in March,
but has held in a tight range between about 4,400 and 4,500 for the last month.

Asian stocks were broadly higher with Japan's Nikkei 225 .N225 climbing
1.8 percent, supported by Chinese data that showed factory output growth
rebounding in May but investors in UK equities will want to see more evidence of
economic recovery before pushing the index much higher.

The financial sector will be in focus after BlackRock Inc. (BLK.N) said it
will buy Barclays (BARC.L) investment arm BGI for $13.5 billion in a blockbuster
deal that will create the world's biggest asset manager.

More than one in 10 British households may have fallen into negative equity,
the Bank of England said, similar to levels seen in the mid-1990s.
[ID:nLAG003503]

The central bank said it is still too early to tell what the impact of the
Bank of England's 125 billion pound asset buying spree is having on the economy.
[ID:nLB810760]

British politicians need to get a grip and sort out problems like soaring
government debt, energy and security, the Confederation of British Industry's
director general said. [ID:nLB408369]

British finance minister Alistair Darling will urge his G8 colleagues this
week to press on with cleansing their banking systems of toxic assets.

* Oil falls towards $72 after three-day rally [ID:nSIN380238]

* GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares advance; momentum seen waning [ID:nSP375142]

* Nikkei rises to 8-mth high, Mitsubishi Heavy jumps [ID:nT248213]

* Oil falls toward $72/bbl after three-day rally [ID:nSIN439564]

* Dollar steady after U.S. data helps risk appetite [ID:nT325123]

* TREASURIES-Extend gains in Asia, focus on sentiment data [ID:nT328946]

* London copper falls after gains, Shanghai lags rally [ID:nSHA258066]

* Gold firms on weak dlr, oil gains; ETF unchanged [ID:nT326477]

UK stocks to watch on Friday are:

RIO TINTO (RIO.L), BHP BILLITON (BLT.L)

Australia's government gave cautious support for the two miners' planned
iron ore joint venture but a newspaper reported that China had threatened
sanctions against the two if the deal went ahead. [ID:nSYD460303]

Seperately, it could be two weeks before BHP Billiton's Perseverance nickel
mine in Australia resumes full production rates after mining was halted due to a
rock fall, the company said.

XSTRATA (XTA.L)

The miner plans to close its United Colleries mine in Australia's Hunter
Valley in March 2010 after the exhaustion of economically recoverable reserves,
it said. [ID:nSYD367207]

GLAXOSMITHKLINE (GSK.L)

The pharmaceuticals giant is planning to cut prices of many of its leading
medicines in emerging markets, CEO Andrew Witty told the Financial Times.
[ID:nB674174]

KINGFISHER (KGF.L)

Europe's biggest home improvements retailer is targeting a big push in
Russia, a market it believes could be "absolutely massive", its chief executive
told the Reuters Global Retail Summit on Thursday. [ID:nLB810978]

TRAVIS PERKINS (TPK.L)

The take-up of a rights issue in the company was about 92.7 percent and
Citigroup and HSBC are acting as joint bookrunners and will endeavour to procure
buyers for the balance.

POLAR CAPITAL TECHNOLOGY (PCT.L)

The company announces its preliminary results.

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times [PRESS/FT]

> Other business headlines [PRESS/GB]

(Reporting by Simon Falush)