(Corrects to add dropped words in eighth bullet)
March 8 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 46 points higher at 6,676 on Monday, according to financial bookmakers.
* ECONOMY: The United Kingdom lost market share in the United States, Germany and China during the COVID-19 pandemic due to global trade chaos, Brexit and poor productivity, according to new research published. OIL: Brent crude futures surged above $70 a barrel for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, while U.S. crude touched its highest in more than two years, following reports of attacks on Saudi Arabian facilities. ASTRAZENECA: Austrian authorities have suspended inoculations with a batch of AstraZeneca's AZN.L COVID-19 vaccine as a precaution while investigating the death of one person and the illness of another after the shots, a health agency said on Sunday. ASTRAZENECA: The European Union will urge the United States to permit the export of millions of doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to Europe, underlining Brussels' scramble to bridge supply shortfalls, the Financial Times reported on Saturday. BT: BT BT.L denied any "misalignment" between board and management on Saturday after Sky News said that CEO Philip Jansen had indicated he might resign unless the company replaced its chairman. OPPOSITION: Britain's opposition Labour Party called the government's pay offer to health workers "reprehensible" on Sunday and pledged to vote against its freeze on income tax thresholds, stepping up criticism of the budget. SHELL: Ecuador's state-owned oil company Petroecuador said on Saturday that it had awarded a tender to export some 1.44 million barrels of Oriente-grade crude to a unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC RDSa.L . London's FTSE 100 ended down on Friday as concerns around U.S. bond yields and sluggishness in the British housing market outweighed strength in energy stocks and weakness in the pound. UK CORPORATE DIARY:
Direct Line Insurance DLGD.L
FY results Diversified Gas & Oil DGOC.L
FY results Network International NETW.L
FY results Senior Plc
FY results Phoenix Group
FY results
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: LIVE/
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