London stocks struggled for direction on Thursday as investors turned cautious ahead of the Bank of England’s interest rate decision later in the day, while energy shares gave a boost to the benchmark index.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 8,361.22 points. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was flat.
“There’s this caution of let’s just wait and see what the BoE has to say in order to take the next step and potentially move higher if we have a more dovish sounding central bank,” Fiona Cincotta, senior financial markets analyst at City Index said.
The pound slipped against the US dollar and was last at $1.2472 while the UK’s benchmark 10-year gilt yield was at 4.181% ahead of the decision.
HSBC Holdings was the biggest drag on FTSE 100 as it traded ex-dividend.
Europe stocks advance, London hits new record
However, most other big banks listed on the benchmark index were trading higher.
“Banks are at the upper end on the…
