June 10 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 18 points higher at 6,353 on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers.
* SEGRO: Warehousing specialist Segro SGRO.L said on Tuesday it would raise about 650 million pounds ($827.58 million) through private share placement to fund its expansion across the United Kingdom and continental Europe.
* DRAX: Britain's largest union said on Tuesday it would hold a ballot for industrial action later this month over the closure of two coal-fired generation units at Drax Group's DRX.L Selby power plant in north Yorkshire.
* ASTRAZENECA: AstraZeneca AZN.L on Tuesday received $23.7 million in funding from a U.S. government agency to advance the development of antibody-based COVID-19 treatments as the British drugmaker ramps up efforts beyond its potential vaccine to combat the pandemic.
* GLAXOSMITHKLINE: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) GSK.L has started a trial in the United States to test an experimental rheumatoid arthritis drug on patients suffering from pneumonia caused by COVID-19, the British drugmaker said on Tuesday.
* SHELL: Oil company Royal Dutch Shell Plc RDSa.L said on Tuesday it had resumed activities at its Bajada de Añelo block in Argentina's Vaca Muerta area after seismic activity in the region led to a halt late last week.
* VODAFONE: Thousands of British customers of Vodafone Group Plc VOD.L , the world's second-biggest mobile operator, faced call connection problems on Tuesday evening, although they were resolved within an hour.
* GOLD: Gold extended gains on Wednesday as global equity markets eased after a recent rally, while U.S. Treasury yields dropped ahead of the outcome of the Federal Reserve's meeting that is expected to shed light on the state of the economy and further stimulus.
* OIL: Oil prices fell on Wednesday after data showed a rise in crude and fuel stockpiles in the United States, reviving concerns about oversupply and falling fuel demand in the world's largest crude consumer amid the coronavirus outbreak.
* The UK blue-chip index .FTSE closed 2.1% lower on Tuesday, weighed down by forecast cuts from British American Tobacco (LON:BATS), while HSBC (LON:HSBA) dropped after a leading shareholder said it was uneasy over the company's decision to back a new security law in Hong Kong.
UK CORPORATE DIARY:
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