July 26 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening up 2 points on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers. * ACACIA MINING: Acacia Mining's shares fell for a sixth straight session on Tuesday, a day after the gold miner was hit with a tax bill of more than $190 billion by the Tanzanian government. * VEDANTA RESOURCES: Zambia's Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) said on Tuesday it was halting operations indefinitely at its Nchanga underground mine (NUG) in Chingola state due to theft of high voltage cables. * METRO BANK: Metro Bank Plc said successful completion of the non pre-emptive cash placing of new ordinary shares. * BREXIT: The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday that it foresaw only a modest increase in transaction costs if clearing and other financial activities are moved from the City of London to the European Union after Brexit. * BRITAIN AUTO: Britain's government will announce on Wednesday that it will ban the sale of petrol- and diesel-fuelled cars from 2040 when all vehicles must be fully electric as part of a plan to clean up air pollution, newspapers reported on Tuesday. * COPPER: London Metal Exchange copper was up 0.5 percent at $6,257 a tonne, as of 0221 GMT, extending from Monday's gains. Earlier in the session, prices hit $6,280 a tonne, its highest since May 2015. * OIL: Oil prices firmed on Wednesday to hold near eight-week highs hit in the previous session, on expectations of a drawdown in U.S. stocks and as a rise in shale oil production shows signs of slowing. * The UK blue chip index FTSE 100 closed 0.8 percent higher at 7,434.82 points on Tuesday, as strong results and buoyant basic resource stocks boosted the index and small-cap luxury shoemaker Jimmy Choo soared 17 percent after an agreed bid by U.S. retailer Michael Kors. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: Antofagasta Q2 Production report Fresnilo Q2 Production report Vedanta Resources Plc Q1 production report Metro Bank Interim Earnings Release CNH Industrial NV Q2 2017 Earnings Release Sage Group PLC Q3 2017 Trading Statement Release Jupiter Fund Management Half Year 2017 Earnings Release Quartix Holdings PLC Half Year 2017 Earnings Release Hammerson PLC Half Year 2017 Earnings Release Berendsen PLC Half Year 2017 Earnings Release Marston's PLC Half Year 2017 Interim Statement Unite Group PLC Half Year 2017 Earnings Release Brewin Dolphin Holdings Q3 2017 Interim Management Statement Robert Walters Plc Half Year 2017 Earnings Release Centaur Media PLC Half Year 2017 Earnings Release PayPoint plc Q1 2017 Trading Statement Release Subsea 7 SA Q2 2017 Earnings Release GKN PLC Half Year 2017 Earnings Release Compass Group PLC Q3 2017 Trading Statement Release 3i Group PLC Q1 2018 Performance Update Tullow Oil PLC Half Year 2017 Earnings Release Paragon Group Q3 2017 Trading Statement Release ITV PLC Half Year 2017 Earnings Release International Personal Half Year 2017 Earnings Release Finance GlaxoSmithKline PLC Q2 2017 Earnings Release 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 Siju Varghese)