Oct 30 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening 25
points lower on Monday according to financial bookmakers.
        
    * SHELL: Oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil won
blocks in Brazil's coveted pre-salt oil region in an auction on Friday.
 
    * HSBC:  HSBC Holdings PLC posted a five-fold rise in its pretax
profit for the third quarter, as the bank expanded its market share in its key
businesses in Asia, and helped by a lower comparative base in the year-ago
quarter.
    * COPPER: London Metal Exchange copper rose by 0.2 percent finding
its feet after more than 2 percent losses in the previous session.
    * GOLD: Gold inched lower on Monday as investors remained cautious ahead of
policy meetings of three major central banks and the naming of the next U.S.
Federal Reserve chair. 
    * British stocks followed European indexes higher on Friday, driven by a
weakening pound and a rise in RBS, which helped outweigh falls among mining
stocks and British Airways owner IAG. The FTSE 100 closed up 0.3 percent
with sterling slipping to a three-week low against the dollar as doubts grew
that a Bank of England rate rise expected next week would signal the start of a
series of hikes.
 
    * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
    
    * UK CORPORATE DIARY:
    
 Northamber PLC                       Full Year 2017 Northamber PLC
                                      Earnings Release
 Cadence Minerals PLC                 Full Year 2017 Cadence Minerals
                                      PLC Earnings Release
 Andalas Energy and Power             Full Year 2017 Andalas Energy
 PLC                                  and Power PLC Earnings Release
 Earthport PLC                        Full Year 2017 Earthport PLC
                                      Earnings Release
 Firestone Diamonds PLC               Full Year 2017 Firestone
                                      Diamonds PLC Earnings Release
 Wey Education PLC                    Full Year 2017 Wey Education
                                      PLC Earnings Release
 Millennium & Copthorne               Q3 2017 Millennium & Copthorne
 Hotels PLC                           Hotels PLC Earnings Release
 HSBC Holdings PLC                    Q3 2017 HSBC Holdings PLC
                                      Earnings Release
 
            
    TODAY'S UK PAPERS
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 (Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru)