March 3 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen
opening 41 points higher at 6,654 on Wednesday, according to
financial bookmakers.
* BUDGET: Finance minister Rishi Sunak will promise on
Wednesday to do "whatever it takes", including a five-month
extension of Britain's huge jobs rescue plan, to steer the
economy through what he hopes will be the final months of COVID
restrictions. * RIO: Rio Tinto RIO.AX said its chair and a board
director would step down, bowing to investor pressure over the
destruction of two ancient Aboriginal rock shelters for an iron
ore mine last year in Western Australia. * ASTRAZENECA: The UK will receive 10 million AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN)
COVID-19 vaccine doses made by the Serum Institute of India
(SII), the UK government said in a statement on Tuesday.
* BP: BP 's BP.L UK chairman Peter Mather will step down at
the end of the year after a decade in the role, the energy
company announced on Tuesday. * AMIGO: Complaints about guarantor loans by companies such
as Amigo AMGO.L soared last year, eclipsing grievances over
payment protection insurance (PPI) that have dominated for more
than a decade, Britain's Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) said.
* LISTINGS: Britain will "modernise" its listing rules to
attract more high-growth and "blank cheque" SPAC company
flotations to London, Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said on
Tuesday. * NATIONAL GRID: Britain's top-up auction to ensure enough
electricity capacity for 2021/22 has cleared at 45 pounds
($62.86) per kilowatt (kW) per year, National Grid said on
Tuesday. * GOLD: Gold prices fell, as expectations that U.S. Treasury
yields would move higher on further economic stimulus kept
non-yielding bullion under pressure. * OIL: Oil prices were down in early trade, extending
several days of losses, amid uncertainty over how much supply
producing countries will push to restore to the market at a
meeting this week while the coronavirus pandemic persists.
* London's FTSE 100 rose on Tuesday, led by gains in mining
and financial stocks, although the domestically-oriented midcap
index tripped on the eve of finance minister Rishi Sunak's new
budget plan. UK CORPORATE DIARY:
PageGroup PAGE.L FY results
Avast AVST.L FY results
Vivo Energy VVO.L FY results
Persimmon PSN.L FY results
Polymetal International POLYP.L FY results
Biffa BIFF.L Trading statement
IPF IPF.L FY results
DS Smith SMDS.L Q3 Trading Statement
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