UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 9

April 9 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening higher on Thursday, with futures FFIc1 up 0.38%.

*BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO: British American Tobacco BATS.L on Thursday appointed Dragos Constantinescu as its chief financial officer, bringing back a former executive who had spent 16 years at the tobacco giant before moving to Asahi Breweries.

*DIGITAL 9 INFRASTRUCTURE: Britain's accounting watchdog on Thursday opened a probe into PricewaterhouseCoopers' financial audit of Digital 9 Infrastructure DGI9.L for tefiscal year ended December 2023.

SHELL: A Brazilian federal court has issued an injunction exempting some companies including Shell SHEL.L from a 12% tax on crude oil exports enacted by Brazil's government about a month ago, a court document seen by Reuters showed.

SHIPPING: British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will say on Thursday that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which carries around a fifth of the world's oil and gas, must be toll-free, countering a push by Iran to control the vital waterway.

RETAIL INVESTING: Britain's financial regulator must amend rules governing how investment-risk warnings are presented or retail investors will continue to shun stocks and shares, the country's investment industry said in a report.

HOUSING MARKET: Britain's housing market cooled noticeably last month as economic uncertainty stemming from the Iran war unnerved buyers who face rising mortgage rates, a survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed.

COMMODITIES: Oil prices rose on Thursday, while gold prices were largely steady, and London copper prices fell.

EX-DIVS: Lloyds Banking Group LLOY.L, Reckitt Benckiser Group RKT.L, Haleon HLN.L, Intercontinental Hotels Group IHG.L, Standard Life SDLF.L, Centrica CNA.L, and Rentokil Initial RTO.L will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out.

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