Europe: Stock markets steady in early deals

[LONDON] Europe's main stocks markets steadied in initial trading on Thursday, as investors in London looked ahead to a monetary policy announcement from the Bank of England.

Shortly after the open, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index was flat at 6,673.28 points.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index was virtually unchanged at 10,377.29 points and the Paris CAC edged up 0.1 per cent to 4,373.92 compared with the close on Wednesday.

The Bank of England will at 1100 GMT publish the outcome of its latest monthly policy meeting, with markets widely expecting the BoE to sit tight after last month cutting its key interest rate to a record-low 0.25 per cent to protect the economy from potential Brexit fallout.

Ahead of the update, traders were awaiting official UK retail sales data.

AFP