Nov 21 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening 12 points higher at 6,960 on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers. * BOSTON SCIENTIFIC, BTG: US medical device maker Boston Scientific is backing its recommended cash offer for UK-based BTG plc with a £3.3bn bridge loan from Barclays Bank. * SAINSBURY, ASDA: British supermarket group Sainsbury's proposed takeover of rival Asda could lead to a further price squeeze for farmers and reduce the choice and innovation of products available for shoppers, the National Farmers' Union (NFU) said on Tuesday. * GOLD: Gold prices dropped slightly on Wednesday, as the U.S. dollar got a boost from safe-haven demand amid heightened risk aversion. * OIL: Oil prices on Wednesday recovered some of the previous day's over 6 percent plunge, lifted by a report of an unexpected decline in U.S. commercial crude inventories as well as record Indian crude imports. * The UK blue chip index ended the day down 0.8 percent on Tuesday as investors dumped financial, oil and mining stocks amid renewed fears about Brexit and Rome's budget showdown with Brussels, and Wall Street gloom across tech and retail spread across Europe. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: Creightons PLC CRGT.L Full Year 2018 Earnings Cambria Automobiles PLC CAMBA.L Full Year 2018 Earnings C4X Discovery Holdings PLC C4XD.L Full Year 2018 Earnings Newriver Reit PLC NRRT.L Half Year 2019 Earnings Johnson Matthey PLC JMAT.L Half Year 2019 Earnings Sage Group PLC SGE.L Full Year 2018 Earnings United Utilities Group PLC UU.L Half Year 2019 Earnings Marston's PLC MARS.L Full Year 2018 Earnings Liontrust Asset Management PLC LIO.L Half Year 2019 Earnings SSP Group PLC SSPG.L Full Year 2018 Earnings Kingfisher PLC KGF.L Q3 2018 Trading Statement Babcock International Group PLC BAB.L Half Year 2019 Earnings Paragon Banking Group PLC PARA.L Full Year 2018 Earnings Talktalk Telecom Group PLC TALK.L Interim 2019 Earnings TODAY'S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines (Reporting by Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru)