(Adds futures, company news items)
Nov 8 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 20 points higher, or up 0.3 percent, on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures up 0.06 percent ahead of the cash market open.
* The UK blue chip index closed 1.7 percent higher on Monday, with mining companies tracking a rally in metals prices after the FBI again said no charges regarding her email practices would be brought again Hillary Clinton, viewed by markets as a status quo candidate with more predictable policies. DIRECT LINE: British insurer Direct Line DLGD.L posted a 4.2 percent rise in gross written premiums in the first nine months of 2016, mainly due to a strong performance in its motor brands, it said on Tuesday. ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND: Royal Bank of Scotland RBS.L is setting up a 400 million pounds scheme to reimburse fees to customers who claim they were mistreated by its small business restructuring unit, as it seeks to draw a line under one of its longest-running customer service battles. MARKS & SPENCER: British retailer Marks & Spencer MKS.L does not plan to raise its prices on clothing and other goods to compensate for the fall in the pound caused by the Brexit vote, its chief executive said on Tuesday. It also said it would shut stores at home and abroad, with its new boss seeking to cut costs as part of a revival plan that will reduce its UK clothing space and switch the business more towards food. IMPERIAL BRANDS: Imperial Brands IMB.L , the world's fourth-biggest tobacco company, reported higher full-year sales and profit on Tuesday, helped by the acquisition of brands in the United States and a weaker British currency. PUNCH TAVERNS: Punch Taverns Plc PUB.L , the second largest pub operator in Britain by number of pub estates, said pub reforms that came into effect in July are having a negative impact on letting activity in the first half of its new financial year. BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO: British American Tobacco PLC (BAT) BATS.L plans to test a new tobacco-based cigarette alternative in Japan next month, it said on Tuesday, taking aim at Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) Inc's PM.N popular iQOS and Japan Tobacco Inc's 2914.T Ploom Tech. BHP BILLITON: BHP Billiton BHP.AX BLT.L said on Tuesday it lost about three weeks worth of production from its Olympic Dam copper mine in Australia due to a power outage in late September. BTG: A U.S. unit of British drug company BTG Plc BTG.L pleaded guilty on Monday to improperly marketing its embolic device LC Bead, and will pay about $36 million to resolve its criminal and civil liability, the U.S. Department of Justice said. HSBC: Some major shareholders in HSBC HSBA.L want the bank to give greater reassurance on succession-planning for its chairman and chief executive, concerned that a timetable for replacing veterans Douglas Flint and Stuart Gulliver may be slipping. TESCO BANK: Tesco Bank, owned by Britain's biggest retailer Tesco TSCO.L , halted online transactions from all current accounts on Monday after money was stolen from 20,000 of them in the country's first such cyber heist. UK SPENDING: British consumers ramped up their spending last month but some of the increase was due to higher motor fuel prices and concerns about higher inflation are growing, surveys showed on Tuesday. UK HIRING: British companies hired permanent staff at the fastest pace in eight months in October as the country's labour market kept on growing despite the decision in June by voters to leave the European Union, a survey showed on Tuesday. UK BUDGET: Britain will only start to lower public debt as a share of GDP at the end of the decade due to a Brexit-related hit to the economy, a think tank said, underscoring finance minister Philip Hammond's challenge as he prepares his first budget statement. OIL: Oil prices were stable on Tuesday as financial investors and traders were cautiously positioning themselves for a win by Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential elections. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
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