March 10 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 32
points lower at 6,698 on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers.
* SHELL: Royal Dutch Shell Plc RDSa.L shut the hydrocracker at its 227,400
barrel-per-day (bpd) Norco, Louisiana refinery to repair a leak, said sources
familiar with plant operations on Tuesday. * ANTOFAGASTA: Workers at Antofagasta's Los Pelambres copper mine in Chile
on Tuesday voted to reject the company's latest contract offer, paving the way
for a strike, a union spokesman told Reuters. * HEATHROW: Britain's Heathrow Airport said on Tuesday it raised 350 million
pounds ($485.21 million) in bonds maturing in 2028, as it bolsters its
pandemic-hit finances ahead of the reopening of international travel in May.
* AVIATION: Britain wants to cut air passenger duty on internal flights and
will launch a consultation this spring, the government said as the aviation
industry suffers from the COVID-19 pandemic. * HOUSING: Renters' appetite for property in central London and its inner
suburbs has jumped as life appears nearer to returning to normal as the COVID
pandemic recedes, data from property website Rightmove showed. * GOLD: Gold inched lower after posting its biggest jump in two months a day
earlier. * OIL: Oil fell as investors took profits while looking ahead to U.S.
inventories data due later in the day for pointers on where prices will head
next. * The UK blue-chip index .FTSE closed 0.2% higher on Tuesday thanks to
strength in industrials and other defensive sectors, although broader gains were
capped by weakness in mining stocks due to a drop in metal prices. UK CORPORATE DIARY:
Balfour Beatty BALF.L FY results
Ibstock IBST.L FY results
Quilter QLT.L FY results
Spirax-Sarco Engineering SPX.L FY results
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($1 = 0.7213 pounds)