(Adds news items, updates futures)
Dec 28 - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening higher on Thursday with futures up 0.30%.
* COPPER GUIDANCE: China's top copper smelters lowered their first-quarter guidance for copper concentrate processing treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) as mine closures and disruptions tightened the supply outlook.
* RUSSIAN ASSETS: The United States has proposed that working groups from G7 countries explore ways to seize $300 billion in frozen Russian assets, the Financial Times reported.
* OIL: Oil prices rose in early Asian trade as persistent fears over escalating tensions in the Middle East outweighed easing concerns about transport disruptions as some global shipping firms said they were returning to the Red Sea route.
* GOLD: Gold prices climbed to over three-week highs on Thursday, as the U.S. dollar and bond yields hit multi-month lows on mounting bets of U.S. interest rate cuts as soon as March.
* METALS: - Copper prices in London were steady, hovering around a five-month high hit in the previous session, supported by a softer dollar on bets of interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
* London stocks rose on Wednesday, led by a surge in automobiles and parts stocks, while investors latched on to the year-end optimism that major central banks, including the Bank of England, could begin cutting interest rates early in 2024.
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times
> Other business headlines (Reporting by Anchal Rana in Bengaluru)
