FTSE 100 Slides Ahead Of BoE Rate Decision
(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks fell on Thursday as investors awaited the Bank of England's interest-rate decision for direction.
Having raised borrowing costs by 25 basis points five times since December, the central bank is now expected to become more aggressive with a 50-bps hike, the most since 1995.
The benchmark FTSE 100 dropped 22 points, or 0.3 percent, to 7,423 after adding half a percent on Wednesday.
Commodity trader Glencore advanced 1.7 percent after profits more than doubled to a record in the first half of the year.
Fashion retailer Next surged 4.7 percent after raising its profit forecast. Rolls-Royce shares slumped more than 9 percent. The aero-engine maker has warned of looming economic challenges after reporting a bigger-than-expected fall in first-half profit.