UK Stocks -- Factors to watch on Aug 21

LONDON, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening
20 to 29 points lower on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, having
closed up 51.4 points, or 1 percent, at 5,371.8 in the previous session.
"After yesterday's solid finish for the FTSE 100 it seems as if gains will
be difficult to sustain in the near term as rising oil prices look set to dent
confidence across the board, whilst resurgent fears as to the health of the
global economy have already ended up weighing on financial stocks in Asia," said
Matthew Buckland, a dealer at CMC said in a note.

UK July retail sales, due at 0830 GMT, will provide a further gauge of the
state of the British economy.

* Wall St rises as bank, energy shares rebound [nN20471487]
* Nikkei falls on global economic worries, yen [nT310134]
* Asia stocks, U.S. dollar slip as oil climbs [nSP222469]
* Dollar edges off 8-month peak on profit-taking [nT294842]
* U.S. crude climbs above $116 on geopolitics [nSP213151]
* Gold tracks oil higher, consolidates near highs [nSP265734]

UK stocks to watch on Thursday are:

IMPERIAL ENERGY IEC.L

A government panel has approved India's state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp's
(ONGC.BO) $3 billion bid to buy Russia-focused oil firm Imperial Energy, India's
Business Standard reported, without citing any sources. [ID:nDEL82113]

REED ELSEVIER (REL.L)

German publishing house Gruner & Jahr is interested in buying the trade
magazines unit of the Anglo-Dutch publisher, a German newspaper reported.
[ID:nN20452287]

ASTRAZENECA (AZN.L)

A U.S. appeal court upheld an infringement finding against generic
drugmakers Apotex and Impax on Wednesday in a case brought by AstraZeneca to
defend the patents for its popular heartburn drug Prilosec. [ID:nN20445583]

HBOS HBOS.L

HBOS has frozen the accounts of Andy Hornby, its chief executive, after a
thief stole his identification details and withdrew thousands of pounds in cash,
the Independent reported.

COBHAM (COB.L)

The aerospace and defence firm is buying U.S.-based intelligence firm GMS
for 14 million pounds, the Daily Mail said.

PERSIMMON (PSN.L)

The housebuilders is due to issue its first-half results.

SIG (SHI.L)

The company is due to issue its first-half results.

AMLIN (AML.L)

The company is due to issue its first-half results.

ELAN ELI.L ELI.I

The number of bidders for Elan Drug Technologies, a subsidiary of the Irish
pharmaceuticals company, has narrowed after Cinven, the private equity house,
dropped out of the auction, the Financial Times said.

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times [PRESS/FT]

> Other business headlines [PRESS/GB]

(Reporting by Dominic Lau)