Feb 16 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening down 7 points to 7295 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers.
* The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed 0.5 percent higher at 7302.41 after setting its highest level since mid-January on Wednesday as investors bet on financial stocks following U.S. Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen's hawkish tone suggested U.S. interest rates would rise. A rally in mining shares also lent some support to the broader stock market. TATA STEEL: Tata Steel 's TISC.NS British workers voted on Wednesday to accept pension benefit cuts in return for safeguards on jobs and investment, although the Indian company's plan to spin off its entire UK pension scheme still faces regulatory hurdles. OIL: Oil held steady on Thursday, supported by ongoing supply cuts led by producer group OPEC, while rising fuel inventories and crude production in the United States dragged on prices. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at $55.74 per barrel at 0550 GMT, down just 1 cent from their last close. STERLING: Sterling touched one-week lows against a broadly stronger dollar on Wednesday after U.S. consumer prices had their biggest jump in nearly four years and retail numbers beat expectations. COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 edged up by 0.3 percent to $6,085 a tonne by 0128 GMT, extending small 0.7 percent gains from the previous session. Prices hit the highest since May 2015 at $6,204 a tonne on Monday. EX-DIVS: AstraZeneca AZN.L , BP BP.L , Imperial Brands IMB.L , Royal Dutch Shell A RDSa.L and Royal Dutch Shell B RDSb.L will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 27.64 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
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