By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Carnival up on rating lift
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks declined Thursday ahead of a
monetary policy decision by the Bank of England, but shares of Rio
Tinto PLC outperformed after the mining heavyweight's profit
jumped.
The FTSE 100 index lost 0.1% to 6,6301.85. The index fell 0.7%
on Wednesday, driven lower alongside other global markets by
worries about euro-zone growth and Russia's ongoing conflict with
Ukraine.
But Rio Tinto climbed 1.4% as company's first-half profit more
than doubled on cost cuts and higher production of iron ore.
Shares of Carnival PLC gained 2.2% after the cruise operator's
rating at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch was raised to buy from
neutral.
Moving lower were shares of Old Mutual PLC , by 2.8%, following
the investment and insurance firm's report that first-half pretax
profit fell to 564 million pounds ($949.9 million) from GBP805
million in the same period a year ago.
The Bank of England, led by Governor Mark Carney, is expected to
release its latest policy decision at 12 p.m. in London, or 7 a.m.
Eastern Time. Policy makers are expected to leave the key interest
rate at a record low of 0.5% and make no changes to the 375
billion-pound ($631 billion) asset-purchase program. But investors
will watch for any hints that some policy makers will vote for an
interest-rate increase.
Kathy Lien, managing director at BK Asset Management, noted
Wednesday that a group of independent economists in the U.K. said
the Bank of England should raise rates immediately. "[W]hile
there's zero chance of a rate hike in August, there's definitely
more hawkish chatter that could make its way into next week's [BOE
quarterly] inflation report."
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