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 (LON:RIO) RIO.AX 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 (NASDAQ:AZN) 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 (LON:NG) 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:
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