July 3 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen...

July 3 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 6 points higher at 6,246 on Friday, according to financial bookmakers.

• RIO TINTO: Rio Tinto (RIO) cut estimated reserves at its underground copper mine extension in Mongolia and confirmed it would face delays and higher costs after ground instability forced it to redesign its mine plan.
• RIO TINTO: Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd TRQ.TO said it has decided to defer further discussions on any interim funding arrangements with Rio Tinto RIO.L for its Mongolian copper project.
• UK FACTORIES: British factories are increasingly planning to lay off workers, a warning sign for the economy as it tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, an industry survey showed.
• QUARANTINE RULE: Britain's government will lift its COVID-19 quarantine requirement for people arriving in England from countries including Germany, France, Spain and Italy from July 10.
• SHELL: Oil majors Eni ENI.MI and Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L were aware that most of the money they spent to buy a Nigerian oilfield in 2011 would go in corrupt payments to politicians and officials, a prosecutor said.
• OIL: Oil prices eased, reversing earlier gains, as the resurgence of the coronavirus globally and in the United States, the world's largest oil consumer, stoked worries that a fuel demand recovery could stall.
• GOLD: Gold was flat, trading in a narrow $4 range on Friday, as worries over surging coronavirus cases globally and lingering trade tensions between the United States and China overshadowed strong U.S. jobs data.
• The UK blue-chip index .FTSE closed up 1.3% on Thursday, as signs of progress in developing a COVID-19 vaccine bolstered hopes of a post-pandemic economic recovery.
• UK CORPORATE DIARY: Fuller, Smith & Turner FSTA.L FY results

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