Dec 18 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening up 8 points on Monday, according to financial bookmakers.
* BHP: ExxonMobil Corp XOM.N and BHP Billiton Ltd BHP.AX BLT.L have agreed to end a nearly 50-year-old gas marketing joint venture in Australia, bowing to pressure from the nation's competition watchdog amid concerns about gas supply and soaring prices. Sky: A hedge fund, which has a stake lower than 1 percent in Sky Plc SKYB.L , reached out to the UK's Takeover Panel saying Walt Disney Co's DIS.N takeover of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc FOXA.O could cost minority shareholders in the UK satellite broadcaster a hefty premium unless the regulator intervenes, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. http://on.ft.com/2oCgaFq
* LSE: Activist hedge fund The Children's Investment Fund (TCI), which has a 5 percent stake in the London Stock Exchange LSE.L , is unlikely to succeed in its attempt to remove LSE chairman Donald Brydon at the bourse operator's shareholder vote on Tuesday, The Times reported on Monday, citing sources. GOLD: Gold prices edged lower on Monday, pressured by firmer equities and a buoyant dollar after a bill to overhaul the tax system in the United States moved a step closer to ratification. OIL: Oil edged up on Monday, lifted by an ongoing North Sea pipeline outage and over signs that booming U.S. crude output growth may be slowing, although the outlook for oil markets cites ample supplies despite ongoing production cuts led by OPEC. BREXIT: British Prime Minister Theresa May will pitch her plan for a Brexit transition period with unchanged access to European Union markets when she briefs lawmakers on Monday about her latest negotiating trip to Brussels. The UK blue chip index closed 0.6 percent higher on Friday, at the end of a busy week of central bank meetings, reversing earlier losses due to a sliding pound and buoyant oil stocks.
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
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