News: RIO UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Sept 1

(Adds news items, updates futures)

Sept 1 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening lower, with futures FFIc1 down 0.67% on Thursday.

• BARCLAYS: Barclays BARC.L has raised 538 million pounds ($623 million) in gross proceeds from the sale of its remaining 7.4% stake in South African lender Absa ABGJ.J .
• RECKITT BENCKISER: Reckitt Benckiser RKT.L said its Chief Executive Officer Laxman Narasimhan will step down at the end of September after three years in the role.
• RIO TINTO: Rio Tinto (RIO) RIO.L said it had reached an in-principle agreement to buy the remaining 49% of Canadian copper miner Turquoise Hill Resources TRQ.TO that it does not already own for $3.3 billion.
• SHELL: Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N has joined Shell Plc SHEL.L in seeking to divest their Aera joint venture, and the duo are in advanced talks with a buyer for the California oil and gas producer, three people with knowledge of the matter said.

  *BP: BP Plc BP.L was restarting production units on Wednesday at its 435,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery, one week after the plant was idled by an electrical fire, two sources familiar with plant operations said.

• STRIKE: British rail staff at two train unions are planning a new round of nationwide strike action on Sept. 15 and 26 over pay, job security and conditions, the latest in a wave of industrial unrest as inflation outpaces pay rises.
• OIL: Oil prices fell in early Asian trade , led lower by increased supply and worries that the global economy could slow further with renewed restrictions to curb COVID-19 in China.
• GOLD: Gold prices slipped to a six-week low , pressured by a firmer U.S. dollar and prospects of major global central banks increasing interest rates aggressively to bring down inflation.

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