March 27 (Reuters) -
Britain's FTSE 100 index isseen opening 78 points higher at 6,966 on Tuesday, according tofinancial bookmakers. * GSK: Novartis will sell its 36.5 percent stake ina consumer healthcare joint venture to GSK for
$13.0billion in cash to focus on strategic priorities, the Swissdrugmaker said on Tuesday. * SHELL: The heavy oil hydrocracker was shut on Monday atRoyal Dutch Shell Plc's 227,586-barrel-per-day (bpd)
Convent, Louisiana, refinery, said sources familiar with plantoperations. * GOLD: Gold prices inched lower early Tuesday amid reportsof trade negotiations between
the United States and
China, whicheased fears of a trade war and improved investors' appetite forriskier assets. * OIL: Oil prices rose on Tuesday, pushed up by concernsthat tensions in the
Middle East could lead to supplydisruptions. * The
UK blue chip FTSE 100 index fell 0.4 percentand closed at 6.888.7 points on Monday, reversing earlier gainsand joining a broader pull-back in
Europe where diplomatictensions with
Russia helped more than offset easing trade warfears. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, pleaseclick on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets *
UK CORPORATE DIARY: Orchard Funding ORCH.L Half Year 2018 Earnings Release United Utilities UU.L Pre-Close Trading Statement Release James Halstead JHD.L Half Year 2018 Earnings Release Churchill China CHCH.L Full Year 2017 Earnings Release Moss Bros Group MOSB.L Full Year 2018 Earnings Release A.G.Barr PLC BAG.L Full Year 2017 Earnings Release Ferguson FERG.L Half Year 2018 Earnings Release TODAY'
S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : http://topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Siju Varghese)