The UK market is lower in afternoon trading Wednesday, as investors continued to exercise caution with diminishing hopes of stimulus measures. Mining stocks were particularly hit amid concerns of growth in China.
Minutes of the Bank of England's meeting held on August 1 and 2 showed that policymakers unanimously decided to retain quantitative easing at 375 billion pounds and the interest rate unchanged at 0.50 percent.
The number of Britons claiming jobless benefits unexpectedly declined in July, latest data from the Office for National Statistics revealed. The claimant count declined by 5,900 persons monthly to 1.59 million in July. Economists had expected the figure to climb by 6,000.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is losing 0.27 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is falling 0.18 percent.
The FTSE 100 index is falling 0.43 percent.
Anglo American and Antofagasta are falling around 1 percent each. BHP Billiton is losing 2 percent and Rio Tinto is retreating 3 percent..
Eurasian Natural Resources is declining 7.2 percent after first-half profit plunged on weak prices.
Steel maker Evraz is dropping 4.7 percent.
CRH is losing 3.1 percent. UBS added the stock to 'Least Preferred List' in European building materials.
Imperial Tobacco is falling 1.9 percent following a new branding rule in Australia.
Standard Chartered is gaining 4.9 percent after the lender agreed to settle the money-laundering probe with the New York regulator by paying $340 million.
Balfour Beatty is up 1.8 percent after announcing first-half results.
Insurer Resolution is gaining 4.7 percent.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is losing 0.41 percent and the French CAC 40 is falling 0.30 percent. However, Switzerland's SMI is gaining 0.25 percent.
Across Asia/Pacific, major markets fell as hopes of more stimulus measures waned. Australia's All Ordinaries fell 0.2 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index retreated 1.1 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 1.2 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 edged down 0.05 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a lower open on Wall Street, ahead of some key data. In the previous session, the major averages ended the session mixed for the fourth time in the past five sessions. While the Dow crept up 0.02 percent, the Nasdaq fell 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 edged down 0.01 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for September delivery is falling $0.27 to $93.16 per barrel and December gold is falling $5 to $1597.4 a troy ounce.
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