UK Stocks -- Factors to watch on June 25

LONDON, June 25 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening
3-15 points lower on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, retreating
following a mixed performance on Wall Street after Federal Reserve comments
failed to excite.

The UK blue chip index is seen as closing up to 0.4 percent lower after it
closed 49.96 points, or 1.2 percent higher on Wednesday at 4,279.98 after a
modest rise on Tuesday, recouping almost half of Monday's 2.6 percent drop.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday stuck to its huge programme of buying
government and mortgage debt, which is designed to keep borrowing costs low and
boost recovery, and said it saw signs that the deep U.S. recession was easing.

The U.S. central bank kept interest rates near zero percent and signalled
less concern on deflation, which is considered a threat to the economy because a
pattern of falling prices causes consumers and businesses to delay purchases,
dragging the economy down further. [ID:nN24163547]

On Wall Street, the Dow fell for a fourth day, reversing early gains and
other indexes ended higher but well off the day's highs on Wednesday after the
Federal Reserve statement, which was a little more downbeat than the market had
been expecting.

"Speculation is building that a hike in US interest rates will be seen
before the year end so this itself will have the potential to weigh on
equities," said Matt Buckland, a dealer at CMC Markets.

"But at the same time we've also got this overarching feeling of caution
that's going to reign in any temptation to just go on an outright buying spree
in the near term."

Asian markets saw gains, however, helped by merger activity among Japanese
banks, with Aozora Bank and Shinsei Bank saying they are in talks that could
create Japan's sixth-largest bank.

No major UK data is due for release on Thursday but investors will eye the
final reading of U.S. first quarter GDP, although no revision is expected to the
2.8 percent preliminary estimate.

The latest weekly U.S. jobless claims will also be of interest, following
last week's surprise decline in the number of people claiming benefits.

* US STOCKS-Dow slips, but S&P, Nasdaq up after Fed, Oracle [ID:nN24226737]

* Nikkei up 1.6 pct, Aozora Bank and Shinsei rally [ID:nT63368]

* GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks rally on Fed, merger activity [ID:nLP429210]

* FOREX-Dollar edges off post-Fed levels, yen falls [ID:nT241138]

* TREASURIES-Fed silence on more debt buying hits bonds [ID:nN24579947]

* Oil dips towards $68 on large U.S. fuel stocks build [ID:nSP507729]

* Gold rises after China remarks, ETF unchanged [ID:nT169622]

* METALS-LME copper falls 1.3 pct after Fed, Shanghai gains [ID:nMAN544258]

UK stocks to watch on Thursday are:

BP (BP.L)

The oil firm says Ericsson (ERICb.ST) CEO Carl-Henris Svanberg will replace
Peter Sutherland as its chairman from January 1 2010 [ID:nWLA7408]

Also, Indonesia's state energy firm Pertamina has agreed to buy BP's stake
in an offshore oil and gas block in West Java for $280 million, Pertamina
president Karen Agustiawan said on Thursday. [nJAK273862]

ANGLO AMERICAN (AAL.L)

Aviva Investors says fully supports Anglo American's rejection of Xstrata
(XTA.L) merger proposal, sees little financial or strategic merit for the deal
and remains supportive of the current management team. [ID:nWLA7404]

STANDARD CHARTERED (STAN.L)

The bank will issue a trading update.

BRITISH AIRWAYS (BAY.L)

The airline will find out on Thursday how many of its staff signed up to
work for free as part of the airline's cost-cutting drive, The Times said.

TESCO (TSCO.L)

Benelux group Fortis Insurance [FORTI.UL] is believed to be close to
securing a deal to provide motor and household products for Tesco's (TSCO.L)
financial services arm, The Daily Telegraph said.

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND (RBS.L)

An annual survey of 1,000 financial institutions, conducted by The Banker
magazine, ranks RBS as the world's worst performing bank, The Independent said.

RETAIL

Woolworths, the 100-year-old sweets-to-DVD retailer that collapsed earlier
this year, will on Thursday be revived as an online business by Britain's
biggest home shopping retailer, Shop Direct, which bought the brand name in
February. [nLO62170

DSG INTERNATIONAL (DSGI.L)

The electricals retailer reports full-year results.

DS SMITH (SMDS.L)

The packaging firm delivers full-year results.

MISYS (MSY.L)

The IT services firm will issue a trading update.

MICRO FOCUS INTERNATIONAL (MCRO.L)

The software firm posts full-year results.

GLISTEN (GLI.L)

The health bar maker said after the market close on Wednesday that its
full-year results would be below prior expectations, citing accounting failures
in Halo Foods, the largest part of its fruit and cereal snacks division.
[nBNG495996]

GOLDSHIELD GROUP (GSD.L)

The generic drugs supplier reports full-year results.

KELLER GROUP (KLR.L)

The engineering contractor will issue a trading update.

JD SPORTS FASHION (JD.L)

The sports retailer holds its annual general meeting.

PETER HAMBRO MINING (POG.L)

The Russian-focused miners hosts its annual general meeting.

VERNALIS (VER.L)

The biotechnology firm holds its annual general meeting.

PLETHORA SOLUTIONS HOLDING (PLE.L)

The urology specialist hosts its annual general meeting.

PRODESSE INVESTMENT (PRD.L)

The closed-end investment company holds is annual general meeting.

SERICA ENERGY (SQZ.L)

The oil and gas explorer holds its annual general meeting.

CSR (CSR.L)

The chip maker holds an emergency general meeting.

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times [PRESS/FT]

> Other business headlines [PRESS/GB]

(Reporting by Jon Hopkins)