May 7 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening higher on Thursday, with futuresFFIc1 up 0.08%.
* BP: The United States extended a licence for BP BP.L to use a workaround to handle payments involving sanctioned Iranian and Russian partners in a major gas project in Azerbaijan, Bloomberg News reported.
* INTERTEK: Britain's Intertek ITRK.L is slated to reject EQT's EQTAB.ST sweetened 58-pound-per-share offer ($78.85), the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
* CONSTRUCTION SECTOR: Activity in Britain's construction sector shrank at the strongest pace in almost six years in the three months to March, according to a survey on Thursday.
* PRIVATE SECTOR PAY: Median annual pay settlements offered by British private sector employers held steady in March, according to a survey.
* EX-DIVS: Glencore GLEN.L, Relx REL.L, and Admiral Group ADML.L will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend payout on Thursday.
* OIL: Oil prices rose over $1 on Thursday, rebounding from the previous day's sharp losses.
* GOLD: Gold rose for a third straight session on Thursday, supported by a softer dollar.
* METALS: London copper prices edged lower on Thursday, as investors took a breather after the previous session's rally.
* FTSE: The main UK indexes jumped more than 2% on Wednesday, aided by hopes of a U.S.-Iran deal to end the war that has lifted energy prices and stoked concerns of inflation.
* UK CORPORATE DIARY:
Shell
SHEL.L
Q1 results
IHG
IHG.L
Q1 Trading update
JD Sports
JD.L
FY results, Q1 update
S4 Capital
SFOR.L
Q1 trading update
Harbour energy
HBR.L
Trading and operations update
Hiscox
HSX.L
Q1 trading statement
Rathbones
RAT.L
AGM trading update
Helios Towers
HTWS.L
Q1 results
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: LIVE/
TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times PRESS/FT
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(Compiled by Roshni Srivastava in Bengaluru)
((roshni.srivastava@thomsonreuters.com))