(Adds company news and futures)
    Dec 21 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100         index is seen opening up 4
points on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures         up
0.18 percent ahead of the cash market open.
    
    * BALFOUR BEATTY: Britain's Balfour Beatty          said on Thursday it had
agreed to sell a 12.5 percent stake in Connect Plus, the operator of the M25
motorway, to fund management company Dalmore Capital Limited for 103 million
pounds ($137.6 million).            
    * BREXIT-FUNDS: Britain's financial regulator said on Wednesday that asset
managers and mutual funds from the European Union would be allowed to continue
operating in the UK after Brexit for a period of time even if there is no trade
deal with the bloc.             
    * OIL: Oil prices were stable on Thursday after posting strong gains late in
the previous session on the back of a drop in U.S. crude inventories.
            
    * GOLD: Gold prices edged up to touch a two-week high on Thursday amid firm
underlying support and expectations of year-end purchases, with the dollar and
stocks little changed in Asian trade.             
    * EX-DIVS: Burberry         , United Utilities        will trade without
entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 0.53 point
off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations.              
    * The UK blue chip index closed 0.3 percent lower on Wednesday, along with
other European bourses before a final vote in the U.S. House of Representatives
that would allow Donald Trump to sign massive tax cuts into law.             
    * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
        
    TODAY'S UK PAPERS
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 (Reporting by Justin George Varghese; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)