UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Nov 23

Nov 23 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening down 17 points at 7,401.9 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers.

RBS: Britain will reprivatise bailed-out lender Royal Bank of Scotland RBS.L by selling 15 billion pounds ($20 billion) of shares, according to budget documents released on Wednesday, in a boost to finance minister Philip Hammond's coffers.

CMC MARKETS: CMC Markets CMCX.L chairman Simon Waugh is to step down two years after its London flotation, Sky News reported on Wednesday.

BRITAIN-AIRLINES: Britain's aviation industry on Wednesday criticised changes to a tax on air passengers which will freeze the duty for a majority of customers, saying they did not go far enough to keep Britain competitive as Brexit approaches.

BRITAIN-INFLATION: The British public's expectations for inflation over the next 12 months dropped to 2.6 percent this month from October's four-year high of 2.8 percent, a monthly survey by polling company YouGov showed on Wednesday.

GOLD: Gold prices nudged lower on Thursday, with investors taking profits after gains of nearly 1 percent in the previous session on weaker U.S. economic data and concerns among some Federal Reserve policymakers over lower inflation.

OIL: Oil prices eased on Thursday, with U.S. crude dipping away from two-year highs reached the day before, but the shutdown of the Keystone pipeline and a drawdown in fuel inventories continued to bolster markets despite worries over rising output.

EX-DIVS: Carnival CCL.L , DCC DCC.L , National Grid NG.L and Vodafone Group VOD.L will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 6.89 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations. The UK blue chip FTSE 100 .FTSE index ended the session just 0.1 percent higher at 7,419.02 points on Wednesday as sterling recovered and headed higher, though the blue chip index still outperformed a negative European market.