By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks slipped Wednesday ahead of
the release of minutes from the Bank of England's most recent
meeting, but BHP Billiton PLC was a top performer after a solid
output update.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index lost 4 points, or 0.1%, to 6,790.76.
It finished Tuesday's session up 1% at 6,795.34, its highest close
in two weeks.
At 9:30 a.m. in London, or 4:30 a.m Eastern Time, the Bank of
England will release minutes from its July 10 meeting at which
policy makers left the benchmark interest rate unchanged. Officials
at the time faced criticism for sending mixed signals on the
outlook of borrowing costs.
Shares of BHP Billiton climbed 1.2% after the miner posted
iron-ore production of 225 million metric tons for the year through
June. That was an increase of 20% on the 12 months prior. BHP in
April raised its expectations for full-year iron-ore production to
217 million tons.
Meanwhile, the Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.3% to 343.42. Among
national markets, France's CAC 40 index slipped less than 1 point
at 4,368.97, while Germany's DAX 30 index gained 0.5% to
9,778.59.
Russia's MICEX index picked up 0.7% to 1,415.33.
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