(Adds news items, futures)
Feb 11 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 40
points higher on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures
FFIc1 up 0.6% ahead of the cash market open.
* JD SPORTS: Britain's competition watchdog said a takeover of sports
retailer Footasylum by larger rival JD Sports JD.L could leave shoppers worse
off, and a sale of the business might be the only way to protect consumer
interests. * OCADO: British online supermarket and technology group Ocado OCDO.L
reported ballooning annual pretax losses and a 27% fall in core earnings, mainly
due to a fire which destroyed a hi-tech flagship warehouse in Andover, southern
England. * MARKS AND SPENCER: British retailer Marks and Spencer MKS.L said it had
appointed Eoin Tonge as its new chief financial officer, taking over from
interim CFO David Surdeau in June. * NAKAMA: Recruitment firm Nakama Group NAK.L warned it is in urgent need
for capital as it grapples with high costs and said revenue was hit in Hong Kong
and Singapore because of the outbreak of the coronavirus. * NMC: GKSD Investment Holding on Tuesday confirmed it was in the
preliminary stages of considering an offer for NMC Health NMC.L , a day after
the healthcare group revealed two approaches from private equity
groups. * RETAILERS: Britons kept a tight grip on their spending last month last
month, a survey showed, suggesting that shoppers have not felt the jump in
confidence reported by many companies since December's election broke the Brexit
logjam. * NMC: Britain's markets watchdog said late on Monday it is "making
enquiries" from NMC Health Plc NMC.L after the healthcare company said earlier
that its co-chairman's stake was under legal review. * BP: BP BP.L plans to ramp up production at Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas
field and maintain stable output at the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) oilfields
this year, a senior regional official at the British oil major said on Monday.
* BREXIT: Britain plans to introduce import controls on European Union goods
at the border after its post-Brexit transition period ends on Dec. 31, senior
minister Michael Gove said on Monday. * METRO BANK: Billionaire hedge fund manager Steve A. Cohen has cut his
stake in Britain's Metro Bank MTRO.L for the fifth time in just over two
months following a difficult year in which the lender was engulfed in a damaging
accounting scandal. * IAG: British Airways said on Monday all its flights to mainland China had
been cancelled until the end of March as the government continues to advise
against all but essential travel to the country due to an outbreak of
coronavirus. * OIL: Oil prices rose more than 1% in sympathy with a rally in equity
markets, but investors remained jittery over the Wuhan virus that has now killed
over 1,000 in China. * GOLD: Gold eased from a near one-week high hit in the previous session due
to a stronger dollar and an uptick in equities as China's factories slowly
return to work amid rising death toll from the coronavirus epidemic.
* London's FTSE 100 weakened on Monday after Britain declared the
coronavirus epidemic a serious and imminent threat to public health, although
preliminary takeover approaches thrust shares in troubled healthcare company NMC
32% higher. UK PAPERS
> Financial Times PRESS/FT
> Other business headlines PRESS/GB