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

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) 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 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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