Global Stocks Mostly Lower as Pound Slips

07/08/2015 07:48 AST

European stocks ended lower Thursday, while the British pound slipped after the Bank of England indicated it remains on course to begin slowly lifting interest rates early next year.

The move in sterling came as investors sized up a raft of data and statements from the BOE—dubbed “Super Thursday” by analysts—in which the central bank left its benchmark interest rate on hold at 0.5%.

The U.K. currency extended losses against the U.S. dollar and the euro. After the decision, it traded 0.6% lower against the dollar at $1.5514, where it stayed throughout the afternoon. Sterling slipped by a similar amount against the euro.

Minutes of the central bank’s policy meeting showed that one of the nine members of its rate-setting committee backed an immediate rate rise. Higher interest rates make a currency more attractive to investors.

“I think the consensus going into the meeting was that there would be two dissenters, maybe even three. So this sends a dovish signal,” said Daragh Maher, a currency strategist at HSBC.

The U.K.’s benchmark FTSE 100 index pared earlier losses to end the session 0.1% lower.

The Stoxx Europe 600 closed 0.8% lower, led by weakness in the energy and mining sectors, and as investors focused on a mixed bag of corporate earnings.

In the U.S., the S&P 500 was around 0.8% lower at the time of the European stock market close and ahead of Friday’s U.S. jobs report for July, which should provide hints on the timing of the first increase in U.S. interest rates in nearly a decade. The Federal Reserve considers employment and inflation data as it makes decisions on monetary policy.

In Europe, oil and gas companies on the Stoxx Europe 600 ended down 1.7% following recent falls in oil prices.

WSJ