Dec 4 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 62 points higher at 7,362.8 on Monday, according to financial bookmakers.
* RIO TINTO: Rio Tinto Ltd RIO.AX RIO.L said on Monday it has appointed Simon Thompson as its next chairman, succeeding Jan du Plessis, who will step down after serving almost nine years as chair. LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE: Bruised by the collapse of its merger with Deutsche Boerse DB1Gn.DE and battered by the abrupt departure of its CEO, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) LSE.L may find Brexit buys it time to get its house in order. GOLD: Gold prices traded lower early on Monday, as the dollar gained after Republicans in the U.S. Senate passed a bill to overhaul the country's tax system, moving the process forward. OIL: Oil fell on Monday after U.S. shale drillers added more rigs last week, but prices held not far off their highest since mid-2015, supported by an extension of output cuts agreed last week by OPEC and other producers. COPPER: London copper held its ground on Monday, defying a stronger dollar to find support from resilient manufacturing demand in top consumer China. The UK blue chip index fell 0.4 percent on Friday. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
* UK CORPORATE DIARY:
Palace Capital PLC
Half Year 2018 Earnings Release Character Group PLC
Full Year 2017 Earnings Release GW Pharmaceuticals PLC
GWP.L^L16 Full Year 2017 Earnings Release
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