March 8 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 39 points lower at 7,118 on Friday, according to financial bookmakers.
* GLENCORE: Ivan Glasenberg, head of Glencore GLEN.L , will no longer be a member of the board of Russian oil major Rosneft ROSN.MM , Rosneft board meeting minutes showed on Thursday.
RIO TINTO: Global miner Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX said on Friday that its $1.9 billion Amrun bauxite mine in northern Australia is set to enter full production after finishing its ramp-up phase, boosting output at its Weipa operations by more than a third.
YAMANA GOLD: Miners Yamana Gold Inc YRI.TO , Glencore GLEN.L and Goldcorp Inc G.TO said on Thursday they signed an agreement to develop and operate Yamana's Agua Rica gold and copper mine in Argentina using infrastructure and facilities of the three companies' existing venture in the country.
SPORTS DIRECT: Sports Direct SPD.L Chief Executive Mike Ashley plans to leave his current role and the retailer's board to focus on running Debenhams DEB.L , Sports Direct said on Thursday, in an attempt to turn around the struggling British department store group.
SHELL: Royal Dutch Shell Plc RDSa.L shut the gasoline-producing unit on Thursday at its 218,200 barrel per day (bpd) Norco, Louisiana, refinery for a planned nine-week overhaul, sources familiar with plant operations said.
GOLD: Gold edged up on Friday as investors worried about a sharp slowdown in global growth after the European Central Bank (ECB) slashed growth outlook and weak Chinese data, but a rally in dollar kept bullion on track for its second weekly decline.
OIL: Oil prices dropped on Friday as clouds gathered over the global economy after the European Central Bank (ECB) warned overnight of continued weakness and fresh data showed Chinese exports and imports slumped last month. The UK blue chip index closed 0.5 percent lower on Thursday as several blue-chip stocks traded ex-dividend and financial stocks were hit after the European Central Bank delayed a rate hike at least until next year and offered a fresh round of cheap loans to banks.
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