dec 13 reuters  britains ftse 100 ftse index is seen opening higher on monday with futures up 029  anglo american australian rail freight operator aurizon holdings ltd azjax will team up with global mining firm anglo american plc aall to explore potential development of hydrogenpowered trains for bulk freight using the miners hydrogen fuel cell technology read more  bhp group australian billionaire andrew forrests wyloo metals raised its offer for canadian nickel producer noront resources ltd notv shortly after failing to come to an agreement to support a rival bid by bhp group bhpax read more  covid19 britain faces a tidal wave of the omicron variant of coronavirus and two vaccine doses will not be enough to contain it prime minister boris johnson warned as he accelerated the booster rollout programme read more  genel energy iraqs kurdistan regional government krg said on sunday that it would vigorously defend itself against any claim for compensation from genel energy genll over the governments termination in august of gas production sharing contracts psc read more  taylor wimpey activist investor elliott called for britains taylor wimpey twl to replace its departing chief executive pete redfern with an external candidate saying there had been missteps at the ftse 100 company over the years read more  gold gold inched higher as elevated us consumer prices lifted its appeal as an inflation hedge while investors awaited a flurry of central bank meetings this week including by the us federal reserve for further direction read more  metals london copper prices often used as a gauge of global economic health edged higher as investor appetite for riskier assets remained strong with expectations of a faster policy tightening by the us federal reserve mostly priced in read more  oil oil prices rose extending gains from last friday helped by growing optimism that the omicron coronavirus variants impact will be limited on global economic growth and fuel demand read more  uks ftse 100 and mid caps indexes slipped for a third straight session on friday after data pointed to stalling economic growth in britain even before the emergence of the omicron coronavirus variant but ended their second week in the black read more  for more on the factors affecting european stocks please click on