June 9 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is

seen opening flat on Monday, with futures down 0.01%.

* WPP ( WPP ): Britain's WPP ( WPP ) said its chief executive Mark

Read would retire from the company at the end of the year after

seven years leading the ad group.

* ALPHAWAVE: U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm ( QCOM ) agreed to

acquire British semiconductor company Alphawave for

about $2.4 billion.

* REVOLUTION BEAUTY: Revolution Beauty said

that billionaire Mike Ashley's Frasers Group ( SDIPF ) is among

several parties conducting due diligence for a potential

takeover of the British cosmetics company.

* THAMES WATER: U.S. investment firms Silver Point

Capital and Elliott Management are formulating a

10-billion-pound-plus ($13.53 billion) rescue package for

Britain's Thames Water, Bloomberg News reported on Friday,

citing people familiar with the matter.

* SHELL: Shell PLC ( SHEL ) on Friday said a fire occurred

on June 4 at its ethylene cracker plant in Potter Township,

Pennsylvania, and the furnace unit involved remained offline

pending an investigation.

* RIO TINTO: Global miner Rio Tinto is in talks with

Australian federal and state governments about a

multibillion-dollar bailout for its struggling Tomago aluminium

smelter in New South Wales state, the Australian Financial

Review reported.

* OIL: Oil prices dipped a few cents on Monday but held onto

most of last week's gains as investors watched for U.S.-China

trade talks in London later in the day.

* GOLD: Gold prices steadied on Monday as investors

refrained from making significant bets, with optimism building

ahead of U.S.-China trade talks later in the day.

* METALS: London copper prices were largely unchanged.

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please

click on:

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times

> Other business headlines

(Reporting by Ankita Bora in Bengaluru)