* TESCO: Britain's competition regulator has referred supermarket Tesco's proposed 3.7 billion pounds ($4.75 billion) takeover of wholesaler Booker to a detailed investigation, ceding to a request from the companies to "fast track" the process.

* ROBERT WALTERS: British recruiter Robert Walters said it expects profit before tax for the year to beat market expectations after it reported a jump in fee income in the second quarter.

* NEX GROUP: NEX Group Plc, the financial trading and technology company, reported a rise in first-quarter revenue as financial markets started to move towards more "normalised" conditions despite low volatility, with interest rate rises in the US and better economic conditions in Europe.

* BARRATT: Britain's largest builder Barratt posted a better-than-expected 12 percent rise in 2016/17 profit as selling prices rose but it only built 76 more homes than its previous financial year, despite government efforts to tackle a chronic shortage.

* GLENCORE: A federal court in Argentina has ordered the suspension of activities at Glencore Plc's Alumbrera gold and copper mine as part of a pollution complaint, according to court documents seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

* AMEC FOSTER: British oil and gas services company Amec Foster Wheeler and individuals associated with the business are under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the company said on Tuesday.

* HSBC HOLDINGS/UBS Group: HSBC Holdings Plc and UBS Group AG have each agreed to pay $14 million to settle private U.S. litigation accusing them of rigging an interest rate benchmark used in the $483 trillion derivatives market.

* OIL: Oil prices on Wednesday extended gains from the previous day as the U.S. government cut its crude production outlook for next year and as fuel inventories plunged.

* GOLD: Gold prices edged further away from a four-month low on Wednesday, as investors awaited testimony from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and central bank officials expressed caution about further interest rate hikes.

* COPPER: Copper prices climbed in Asia to their highest in more than one week on Wednesday amid a weaker U.S. dollar and concerns about industrial action that could further crimp mine supply.

* The UK blue chip index closed down 0.6 percent at 7,329.76 points on Tuesday, as Pearson and Marks & Spencer overshadowed gains in miners.

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times

> Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : http://topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Harish Bhaskar)