(Adds company news items and futures)
March 19 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening down 16 points on Monday, according to financial bookmakers with futures FFIc1 0.2 percent lower ahead of the cash market open.
* GKN/MELROSE: Melrose, the turnaround specialist trying to buy British engineering firm GKN (LON:GKN), said it would inject about 1 billion pounds ($1.39 billion) into GKN's pension scheme, its latest attempt to convince shareholders to back its offer. CARILLION: Britain's Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said on Monday it commenced an investigation into the conduct of two former finance directors of bankrupt construction firm Carillion plc. MICRO FOCUS: Britain's Micro Focus International warned its annual revenue would fall more than expected due to lower licence income and problems stemming from its purchase of Hewlett Packard Enterprise HPE.N assets, prompting its CEO to quit. HAMMERSON/KLEPIERRE: French shopping centre operator Klepierre said on Monday it had made a proposal to buy UK peer Hammerson, but that its offer had been rejected. BARCLAYS: Barclays (LON:BARC) said on Monday entities controlled by Sherborne SIGC.L had acquired voting rights over 5.16 percent of the British bank's issued share capital. GKN/DANA: Dana Incorporated, the U.S. company seeking to merge with the auto unit of British engineering company GKN, said it would seek a secondary listing in London, a move which would allow more British shareholders to back the deal. BRITAIN GAMBLING: UK's Gambling Commission on Monday said the maximum stake for fixed odds betting terminals (FOBT) in British betting shops should be cut to 30 pounds ($41.78).
* RIO TINTO: Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) has asked Swiss investment bank UBS to explore a possible public listing of its Pacific Aluminium smelting business on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), two industry sources said on Friday. GLENCORE: Angolan state oil company Sonangol awarded its rare refined products buy tender to Glencore (LON:GLEN) and Total, Sonangol said on Friday, cutting out long-time supplier Trafigura. BRITIAN ECONOMY: Britons' incomes are rising at near their fastest rate since the depths of the financial crisis in 2009, increasing the chance the Bank of England will soon raise interest rates again, a survey of households showed on Monday. GOLD: Gold prices extended losses into a fourth session on Monday, with the dollar remaining supported as investors expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this week. OIL: Oil prices fell on Monday as increased drilling in the United States pointed to more output, raising concerns about a return of oversupply. The UK blue chip index closed 0.3 percent higher at 7,164.14 on Friday, but the FTSE 100 registered a weekly decline in spite of a boost from energy and financials stocks. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
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