Adds new items, updates futures
Jan 9 (Reuters) - * Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening higher on Friday, with futures FFIc1 up 0.17%.
* SAINSBURY'S: Sainsbury's SBRY.L
reported
a 3.4% rise in underlying sales for the key Christmas quarter, with strong grocery sales offset by a weaker performance in general merchandise.
* IAG: IAG ICAG.L appointed José Antonio Barrionuevo, its British Airways division's finance chief, as the group's new
CFO
, succeeding Nicholas Cadbury in June.
* GLENCORE: Rio Tinto RIO.L is in early talks to buy Glencore GLEN.L, in what could create the world's largest mining company with a combined market value of nearly $207 billion.
* ANGLO AMERICAN: The proposed merger of Anglo American AAL.L and Teck Resources TECKb.TO is heading for antitrust clearance in Europe, according to a filing.
* ANTOFAGASTA: The Trump administration and U.S. Congress are launching a plan this week to overturn former President Joe Biden's mining ban in northern Minnesota. The move will benefit Antofagasta's ANTO.L Twin Metals copper, cobalt and nickel project.
* GSK: AnaptysBio ANAB.O has filed a partial motion to dismiss a claim by GSK's GSK.L oncology unit over royalties for cancer drug Jemperli.
* OIL: Oil prices
rose
for a second day on Friday and set for their third weekly gain, on uncertainty about the future of supply from Venezuela and as Iranian unrest increases concerns about output there.
* METALS: Copper and nickel are poised to end the week higher, despite a recent selloff as investors booked profits.
* GOLD: Gold fell on Friday as commodity index readjustments and a firm dollar kept the pressure on prices, with investors positioning ahead of crucial U.S. non-farm payrolls data.
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: LIVE/
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(Compiled by Neeshita Beura in Bengaluru)
((Neeshita.Beura@thomsonreuters.com))