UK Stocks - Factors to watch on Sept 1

Britain's FTSE 100 is seen opening 11 to20 points lower on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers, weighed down by weakness overnight on Wall Street and as investors take profits from hefty gains on the index over the past month.

The FTSE 100 is seen opening as much as 0.4 percent lower after closing up 0.8 percent at 4,908.90 on Friday, having also touched a near 11-month high of 4,944.16 earlier in the session. The London market was closed for a public holiday on Monday.

A recovery in corporate earnings and encouraging economic data helped the FTSE 100 gain 6.5 percent in August and it is up 42 percent since hitting atrough in March.

A modest recovery in Asia, however, after falls on Monday are expected to provide some underlying support to the UK stocks, as equities in Shanghai recovered from plunging nearly 7 percent on Monday.

Later in the session, investors will eye the CIPS/Markit UK Manufacturing PMI for August, due at 0828 GMT, while the Bank of England's Consumer Credit numbers for July and Mortgage Approvals and Mortgage Lending for July are due at 0830 GMT.

* Nikkei dips in and out of positive territory

* US STOCKS-Wall St slips on China sell-off; energy slides

* Aussie steady before rate decision, yen holds ground

* TREASURIES-Dip in Asia as Chinese shares stabilise

* GLOBAL MARKETS-China shares stabilise on PMI, Aussie firm

* METALS-LME copper slides 2.7 pct, pares losses

* PRECIOUS-Gold inches above $950 as China stocks, oil firm

* Oil holds $70 after 4 pct drop, awaits US data

UK stocks to watch on Tuesday are:

LLOYDS BANKING GROUP

The lender is conducting a strategic review of a network of 300 agencycounters which take savings for its Halifax mortgage subsidiary, it said on Saturday. .

The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the bank has reached an agreement with the business department over a second tranche of one billion pounds from the government's working capital scheme, after arranging a similar one billion pound tranche in April.

BARCLAYS

The bank is considering a plan to split the assets of its mid-market private equity division BPE and the management company which runs it, the Daily Telegraph reported.

BANKS

In an interview with the Financial Times, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged to clamp down on excessive pay for bankers, the newspaper reported on Tuesday.

RSA Insurance Group Britain's biggest commercial insurer, is considering a rights issue of up to 600 million pounds ($977.2 million), according to reports in the Sunday Telegraph and Mail on Sunday.

VODAFONE

The firm has chosen OMD, a division of Omnicom, to take charge of its 800-million-pound global media planning and buying account, the Times reported on Saturday.

ASTRAZENECA

The drug company has claimed that its new blood-thinning pill Bilinta is an improvement on Plavix, the main anti-heart treatment and the second most widely sold drug in the world.

AVIVA

The insurer Aviva is to contact its policy holders for the third time asking for their vote on what to do with 500 million pounds of "orphan" assets held by the CGNU Life and CULAC funds, the Independent reported on Monday.

INSURERS

The insurance industry is investigating a spike in property fire damage claims amid fears that businesses and homeowners are turning to arson to solve problems brought on by the financial crisis, the Financial Times said.

M&S

Marks and Spencer is to launch Indigo, a new casual clothing range aimed at 30-plus women, in 100 stores and on its website, the Times reported on Monday.

WM MORRISON

The supermarket chain has revealed it is to temporarily freeze the price it charges for petrol, the Independent said on Tuesday.

BT

The firm's plan to move at least 2,000 call centre jobs to the UK from India has hit trouble as British workers are understood to be unwilling to cover the same hours at their Indian colleagues, the Times reported on Tuesday.

ITV

The former chief executive of BSkyB, Tony Ball, is now believed to be the preferred successor to ITV's outgoing CEO Michael Grade, following the withdrawal this month of the HMV chief executive Simon Fox, the Guardian reported on Monday.

DECHRA PHARMACEUTICALS PLC

The pharmaceutical company reports preliminary results.