Jan 18 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening up 8 points on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers. * BHP: Global miner BHP on Thursday reported a 3 percent rise in second-quarter iron ore production year over year and said it expects to meet its full-year target as prices for the steelmaking ingredient outperform forecasts. * WHITBREAD: Activist investor Sachem Head has asked Whitbread to consider a break up of its Costa Coffee chain from its hotels and restaurant businesses, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. * GSK: GlaxoSmithKline is cutting back operations in Africa as its new Chief Executive Emma Walmsley seeks to make the British drugmaker more competitive in emerging markets by ditching her predecessor's expansion plans for the continent. * BARCLAYS JOBS: Britain's Barclays is to cut 100 senior roles from its investment banking division, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. * BRITAIN HOUSEPRICES: A key gauge of British house prices unexpectedly picked up last month from its lowest level in more than four years, helped by a less negative tone in London and neighbouring areas. * GKN/MELROSE: Turnaround specialist Melrose raised the pressure on GKN by turning hostile in its pursuit of the British engineering company, making a firm 7.4 billion pound ($10.2 billion) offer for the business after meeting its shareholders. * OIL: Oil prices rose on Thursday on a reported decline in U.S. crude inventories, and as rebels in Nigeria threatened to attack the country's petroleum infrastructure. * EX-DIVS: Ashtead, Compass Group, Micro Focus and SSE Plc will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 3.04 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations. * The UK blue chip index closed 0.4 percent lower at 7,725.43 on Wednesday as a flurry of corporate news triggered sharp moves, including for contractor Interserve after the Financial Times reported the British government was monitoring it following the collapse of competitor Carillion. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: EVRAZ Plc Q4 2017 Production Results Whitbread Plc Q3 2017 Trading Statement Release Workspace Group Plc Q3 2018 Interim Management Statement Release Associated British Q1 2018 Trading Statement Foods Plc Release Headlam Group Plc Pre-close Trading Update Release Halfords Group Plc Q3 2018 Trading Statement Release Royal Mail Plc Q3 2018 Trading Statement Release Newriver Reit Plc Q3 2018 Trading Statement 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 Radhika Rukmangadhan in Bengaluru)