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LONDON May 24 (Reuters) - * Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening up 35 to 41 points, or as much as 0.8 percent, on Thursday, clawing back some of the previous session's sharp losses following a late recovery on Wall Street, though trade looked set to remain cautious after a European summit failed to produce any concrete proposals for tackling the region's debt crisis. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on
* European Union leaders, advised by senior officials to prepare contingency plans in case Greece decides to quit the single currency, urged the country to stay the course on austerity and complete the reforms demanded under its bailout programme.
* Brent crude remained steady at below $106 per barrel on Thursday as investors remained cautious on a slowing Chinese economy, euro zone worries and slight hopes of progress in talks between Iran and the West on Tehran's nuclear programme.
* London copper rose on Thursday as the market took a breather after sinking to a 4-1/2 month low in the previous session on risk aversion triggered by worries over Greece's possible exit from the euro zone.
* The FTSE 100 slid 136.87 points, or 2.5 percent, to 5,266.41 on Wednesday, wiping out gains from the start of the week on mounting fears Greece will leave the euro zone in its biggest one-day percentage drop since Nov. 21 and its lowest close since Nov 25, when markets were similarly beset with worries about the euro zone's debt crisis.
* U.S. stocks staged a late-day reversal on Wednesday, rallying into the close in another volatile session as a sharp rise in materials shares boosted the S&P 500 and gains in Apple helped lift the Nasdaq.
* In terms of domestic economic data, investors will look at the second release of UK Q1 GDP, scheduled for release at 0830 GMT.
* U.S. economic data on Thursday includes April durable goods and the latest weekly jobless claims, both due at 1230 GMT.
* UK CORPORATE DIARY:
SABMILLER reports full-year results
UNITED UTILITIES GROUP reports full-year results
BOOKER GROUP reports full-year results
CALEDONIA INV reports full-year results
BRITVIC posts first-half results
CABLE & WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS reports full-year results
DAIRY CREST GROUP reports full-year results
DAILY MAIL & GENERAL TRUST reports first-half results
ELECTROCOMPONENTS reports full-year results
PAYPOINT reports full-year results
QINETIQ GROUP reports full-year results
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 * BridgeStation: view story .134 For more information on Top News visit topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Tricia Wright)
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