By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 hovered around the
flat line on Wednesday, as investors waited for minutes from the
Bank of England and with shares of British American Tobacco PLC
adding pressure after a lackluster trading update.
The benchmark index was marginally higher at 6,373.41, after
rallying 1.7% on Tuesday.
The Bank of England was in focus ahead of releasing minutes from
its October policy-setting meeting. The minutes come out at 9:30
a.m. in London or 4:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Economists widely expect
the minutes to show that seven of the nine-member Monetary Policy
Committee voted in favor of keeping rates low and the
quantitative-easing program unchanged.
Among stocks on the move in London, shares of British American
Tobacco slumped 3.9% after the company reported a drop in
nine-month revenue, hit by a slow economic recovery in Western
Europe.
Mining firms were also dropping, tracking most metals lower.
Shares of Fresnillo PLC dropped 0.7%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) fell 0.5%
and Randgold Resources Ltd. lost 0.3%.
On a more upbeat note, shares of ARM Holdings PLC (ARMHY)
climbed 3.5% after UBS lifted the chip maker to buy from
neutral.
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