Sept 1 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening down 1
point at 7429.5 on Friday, according to financial bookmakers. 
    
    * PETROFAC: CEO of Petrofac Ltd Ayman Asfari made over 300,000 euros
 ($356,760.00) on betting on a stock price drop of an oil firm after being
tipped off by its boss of his resignation, financial regulators in Italy have
said, The Times reported on Friday.  http://bit.ly/2xBzSS4
    * SMITH & WILLIAMSON: Wealth manager Smith & Williamson (S&W) plans to
pursue a potential stock listing after its merger talks with rival Rathbone
Brothers collapsed on Thursday.
    * OIL: U.S. crude futures fell in Asian trading on Friday, partly reversing
sharp gains from the previous session, amid ongoing turmoil in the oil industry
with nearly a quarter of U.S. refining capacity offline.
    * GOLD: Gold inched lower on Friday as mild profit-taking set in after
recent rallies and as investors awaited U.S. jobs data for direction on interest
rates, but safe-haven demand kept prices near 9-1/2 month highs as tensions over
North Korea lingered.
    * STORM HARVEY: A flood-hit southeast Texas city lost its drinking water
supply and police and soldiers rescued thousands still stranded on Thursday
after powerful storm Harvey killed 44 people and displaced more than a million
on the Gulf Coast.
    * STORM LIDIA: Tropical Storm Lidia lashed the southern tip of Mexico's Baja
California peninsula with heavy rain and high winds as it barreled through the
popular tourist resorts of Los Cabos on Thursday evening, authorities said. 

    * U.S. ECONOMY: U.S. job growth likely slowed in August after two straight
months of robust gains, but the pace of increase should be more than sufficient
for the Federal Reserve to announce a plan to start trimming its massive bond
portfolio.
    * The UK blue chip index closed 0.9 percent higher at 7430.62 points on
Thursday, extending gains from the previous session as support from
commodities-related stocks and financials helped the blue-chip index score its
second consecutive monthly gain.
    * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
    
    * UK CORPORATE DIARY:
 EMIS Group             Half Year 2017 Earnings Release
 
        
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($1 = 0.8409 euros)

 (Reporting by Justin George Varghese)