Oct 16 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening lower on Thursday, with futures FFIc1 down 0.34%.

* LENDABLE: British consumer credit firm Lendable launched a monthly 20-pound mobile plan on Wednesday, the latest financial technology firm to expand into telecommunications to unlock new revenue streams.

* THINK TANK STUDY: British finance minister Rachel Reeves should raise taxes by a lot in next month's budget to exit the "Groundhog Day scenario" of continuously having to find measures to patch up the public finances, a think tank said on Thursday.

* OIL: Oil prices rose around 1% on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pledged his country would stop buying oil from Russia, a move that could drain supply elsewhere.

* GOLD: Gold hit a record high on Thursday, rising for a fifth session, as investors ramped up their safe-haven bets amid rising trade tensions between the world's two largest economies, a U.S. federal government shutdown and heightened rate-cut bets.

* METALS: Shanghai copper edged up on Thursday, as investors focused on supply risks with several countries warning about tumbling processing fee, and U.S.-China trade tensions in the run up to a high-stakes meeting between leaders from both countries.

* EX-DIVS: Persimmon PSN.L, Games Workshop Group GAW.L, Smiths Group SMIN.L, and Diageo PLC DGE.L will trade without entitlement to its latest dividend pay-out.

* FTSE: The UK blue-chip index .FTSE fell 0.3%, closing lower on Wednesday as investors were cautious ahead of domestic GDP data due Thursday, with fiscal concerns including sticky inflation and the prospect of tax hikes, weighing on sentiment.

* UK CORPORATE DIARY:

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: LIVE/

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(Compiled by Ankita Bora in Bengaluru)

((Ankita.Bora@thomsonreuters.com))