June 24 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening lower on Wednesday, with futures down 0.5%.

* BT GROUP: BT Group's pension scheme lost about £300 million on its investment in Thames Water after writing off its 8.7% stake in the utility, the Financial Times reported.

* RIO TINTO: Rio Tinto expects its lithium business to grow faster than its copper, iron ore and other divisions as it works to triple production by 2028 for the electric vehicle and battery storage markets, an executive said.

* ENERGY: Britain's Climate Change Committee urged the government to accelerate efforts to transition to clean energy and remove policy costs from electricity bills.

* PAY: British employers expect to scale back pay increases markedly next year, according to a survey from human resources data firm Brightmine that added to signs of a cooling labour market.

* OIL: Oil prices fell over 1%, extending this week's losses and trading near four-month lows, on signs that more oil tankers stranded in the Gulf are set to move out of the Strait of Hormuz.

* METALS: Aluminium prices stayed near a three-month low on the London Metal Exchange, as a strong dollar and hopes of a resumption in Middle East supply weighed.

* GOLD: Gold extended losses, touching its lowest in almost two weeks as the dollar climbed due to rising bets on U.S. interest rate hikes.

* FTSE: London's blue-chip FTSE 100 ended slightly lower, while the mid-cap index hit a more than one-week low on Tuesday, tracking weakness in global markets as prospects of interest rate hikes dampened risk-taking.

* UK CORPORATE DIARY:

Berkeley Group FY resullts

Liontrust Asset FY resullts

Management

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

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

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(Compiled by Neeshita Beura in Bengaluru)