April 13 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 15.3 points lower on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers.
* RIO: Australia's foreign investment watchdog has cleared Chinese-backed coal miner Yancoal Australia Ltd YAL.AX to pursue its $2.45 billion acquisition of Rio Tinto RIO.AX , RIO.L 's Coal and Allied Division, Yancoal said on Thursday. BRITAIN HOUSE PRICES: House prices in central London saw their most widespread declines since 2009 as Brexit uncertainties and high transaction costs dented demand for high-end property in the British capital, a survey showed on Thursday. BRITAIN ECONOMY: British manufacturers reported the fastest export growth in more than two years in early 2017 and the services sector also recovered to rack up its strongest sales growth since last June's Brexit vote, a business survey showed on Thursday. EX-DIVS: Reckitt Benckiser RB.L , Standard Life SL.L and Taylor Wimpey TW.L will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 3.7 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations
The UK blue chip index fell 0.2 percent at close on Wednesday as results weighed on Tesco TSCO.L shares and the broader UK supermarket sector.
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