(Adds company news items, futures)
Jan 3 (Reuters) - Britain’s FTSE 100 index is seen opening up 2 points at 7,649.6 on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures up 0.13 percent ahead of the cash market open.
* CARILLION: UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has notified Carillion Plc that it has begun an investigation into the company, the struggling British builder said on Wednesday.
* NEXT: British clothing retailer Next upgraded its full-year profit forecast after it beat guidance for sales in the run-up to Christmas, helped by colder weather.
* COTT CORP/CMA: Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority on Wednesday said it is concerned that Refresco’s $1.25 billion purchase of Canada-based Cott Corp’s bottling activities could result in higher prices or lead to lower quality standards.
* PLUS500:Spreadbetting company Plus500 expects to report full-year profit and revenue ahead of market expectations nL8N1OY0MIafter rising customer numbers and strong trading helped to offset challenges from a sector-wide regulatory clampdown.
* ICAG: A group representing airline passengers has taken legal action to shift insolvency proceedings for budget airline Niki to Austria from Germany, in a move that could endanger the sale of the Air Berlin unit to Britain’s IAG.
* RYANAIR: Ryanair recently applied for a British air operating licence in a move it said on Tuesday may be required to keep its small domestic UK service operating in the event of a hard Brexit.
* UBS/FCA: A former junior UBS trader, who is challenging a plan by Britain’s regulator to ban him from financial services over Libor-related conduct, is alleging in a London court this week that his actions were sanctioned and mandated by managers.
* The UK blue chip index ended the session 0.5 percent lower at 7,648.10 points on Tuesday, slightly underperforming European peers, with dollar-earning exporters hit hardest as sterling rose.
* 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 topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru)