UK Stocks-Factors to watch on October 22

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening flat on Wednesday, with futures FFIc1 down 0.03%.

* RIO TINTO: Rio Tinto is exploring a potential asset-for-equity swap with Chinalco that would trim the Chinese investor's 11% stake, freeing up Rio to resume buybacks and pursue new strategic deals, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

* ITV: Liberty Global, LBTYA.O, the largest shareholder in British broadcaster ITVITV.L , plans to sell about 191 million shares in the London-listed firm, a bookrunner said on Tuesday, a move that would halve its stake to roughly 5%.

* BP: JERA Nex BP, a joint venture between Japan's top power generator JERA and BP BP.L, plans to halt development of the U.S. Beacon offshore wind power project and lay off its U.S. employees in the coming months, the company said in a statement.

* GSK: Alector ALEC.O said its experimental drug failed to slow the progression of a rare form of dementia in a late-stage trial. The 96-week trial, conducted with partner GSK GSK.L, showed no clinical benefit in slowing disease progression as measured using a common scale.

* GLENCORE: Glencore's GLEN.L global head of naphtha trading, Oliver Bowen, is set to leave for rival Vitol, four sources told Reuters.

* COMMODITIES: Oil prices pushed higher for a second day on Wednesday, by more than 1%, gold prices fell further, and Shanghai copper slipped.

* FTSE: The UK blue-chip index .FTSE rose for a second consecutive day on Tuesday, lifted by shares of Melrose and HSBC, while losses in precious miners kept gains in check. Both the benchmark FTSE 100 and the domestically focused FTSE 250 rose about 0.2%, each.

* UK CORPORATE DIARY:

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: LIVE/

TODAY'S UK PAPERS> Financial Times PRESS/FT> Other business headlines PRESS/GB

(Compiled by Ankita Bora in Bengaluru; Edited by Ronojoy Mazumdar)

((Ankita.Bora@thomsonreuters.com))