European stocks diverged at the open on
Thursday, but London slid before an expected half-point interest rate hike
from the Bank of England to tackle soaring inflation.

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index declined 0.1 percent to 7,435.02 points,
ahead of a BoE rate call at 1100 GMT.

On the upside, the Paris CAC 40 won 0.2 percent to 6,487.53 points and
Frankfurt’s DAX rose 0.4 percent to 13,640.24 compared with Wednesday’s
closing levels.

“All eyes (are) on (the) BoE to see if follows other central banks and
delivers a larger hike,” said MUFG analyst Lee Hardman.

The BoE is tipped by most economists to lift its key interest rate by 0.50
percentage points to 1.75 percent, alongside its latest inflation and growth
forecasts.

Such a move would follow large hikes last month by both the US Federal
Reserve and the European Central Bank.

Global inflation has soared this year on spiking energy costs, following key
gas and oil producer Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.