LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE

U.S. stock index futures fell on Wednesday a day after the Dow posted its seventh consecutive advance in weak trading volume that could signal the rally is wilting.

The London Stock Exchange is to buy Canada's TMX to claw back lost market share and create the world's fourth-largest bourse trading $4.1 trillion of stock a year.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Wednesday a day after the Dow posted its seventh consecutive advance in the year's lowest overall volume, possibly signaling the rally could be wilting.

The London Stock Exchange is to buy Canada's TMX stock exchange operator to create the world's fourth-largest trading center and claw back some of the market share it has lost in recent years.

The London Stock Exchange Group plc (LSE) said that it is in advanced negotiations with the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange, the TMX Group, regarding a potential merger.

Miner Xstrata Plc reported a surge in profit for the full year on stronger commodity prices, and proposed a final dividend of 20 cents a share, reflecting a return to pre-financial crisis levels.

McBride Plc, the maker own label products for retailers, said interim pretax profits dropped 31 percent amid rising raw materials costs and a weak retail environment, particularly in the UK.

British gas producer BG Group Plc posted a rise in quarterly profit helped by higher commodity prices and a lower exploration charge and the company lifted its full year dividend by 10 percent to 21.60 cents a share.

Randgold Resources sees a surge in production for 2011 as it reported a 43 percent rise in full-year profit in spite of operational and political setbacks. The company, which boosted its annual dividend by 18 percent to 20 cents, forecasts production to be between 750,000 and 790,000 ounces for 2011.

Pharma major GlaxoSmithKline Plc posted a quarterly loss hit by a massive charge to settle further litigation related to its diabetes drug Avandia, but the company raised its dividend and said it would resume its share buyback program.

British telecommunications company BT Group plc reported its highest share of DSL broadband net additions for eight years and said pretax profit for the third quarter more than doubled from last year.

British carpet and floor covering retailer Carpetright Plc said it expects full-year profits to be below last year and below market expectations, citing lower third quarter sales due to adverse weather conditions and fragile consumer confidence.

Britain's Imperial Tobacco Group Plc said it made a good start to the year with underlying tobacco net revenue up 5 percent and increased cigarette and fine cut tobacco volumes.

British chip designer ARM Holdings posted a higher quarterly and full-year profit, helped by the growth in licensing and royalty revenue and it expects dollar revenue for 2011 to be at least in line with market expectations.

British private equity firm 3i said it made "some high quality" new investments and had significant realisations from the portfolio at good uplifts in the third quarter. 3i said it invested 183 million pounds ($291 million) during the quarter, up from 59 million pounds in the same period of last year.

Pay-TV firm British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) reported record product sales and strong double-digit growth in profit and revenue for the first half. The company, which lifted its interim dividend by 11 percent to 8.74 pence, said the business has achieved milestone of 10 million customers and total net product growth was 2.193 million.

UK-based water supplier United Utilities Group Plc said current trading is in line with the group's expectations of delivering a solid underlying financial performance for the year ending March 31.

British software maker Sage Group Plc said trading for the first quarter were in-line with its expectations with improved revenue performance continuing from the second half of last year.

British financial software provider Misys Plc reported a 23 percent rise in pretax profit for the first half largely from net finance income, reflecting significant lower debt compared with last year.

Britain's water services group Severn Trent Plc said it expects exceptional charges of around 20 million pounds to 25 million pounds for the full year, mainly related to ongoing efficiency improvements and accelerated deprecation of assets.

British wealth management group St James's Place said 37 percent rise in new single investments boosted funds under management to an all time high of 27 billion pounds ($43 billion).