European stock markets mid session: stocks traded slightly lower ahead of the Bank of England’s interest rate decision

Stock indices traded slightly lower ahead of the Bank of England's (BoE) interest rate decision. It will be the first time that the central bank will release its interest rate decision, the minutes of the monetary policy meeting and its quarterly forecasts for economic growth and inflation at the same time.

Analysts expect the BoE to keep its monetary policy unchanged.

The vote of the MPC members will be monitored closely. Analysts expect that two MPC members will vote for the interest rate hike.

The BoE Governor Mark Carney is expected to speak at a press conference after the release of the interest rate decision.

Meanwhile, the economic data from the Eurozone was better than expected. German seasonal adjusted factory orders climbed 2.0% in June, beating expectations for a 0.2% gain, after a 0.3% decline in May. May's figure was revised down from a 0.2% fall.

The increase was driven by rises in new orders from the Eurozone and from other countries. New orders from the Eurozone rose 2.3% in June, while orders from other countries increased 6.3%.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released its manufacturing industrial production figures for the U.K. on Thursday. Manufacturing production in the U.K. rose 0.2% in June, in line with expectations, after a 0.6% decrease in May.

Manufacturing output was driven by a rise in the manufacture of weapons and ammunition, which jumped 31.0%.

On a yearly basis, manufacturing production in the U.K. increased 0.5% in June, beating forecast of a 0.4% gain, after a 1.0% rise in May.

Industrial production in the U.K. dropped 0.4% in June, missing forecasts of a 0.1% rise, after a 0.3% gain in May. May's figure was revised down from 0.4% increase.

The decline in the industrial output was driven by a drop in oil and gas output. Oil and gas production plunged 5.8% in June, the biggest fall since January 2014.

On a yearly basis, industrial production in the U.K. gained 1.5% in June, missing expectations for a 2.2% rise, after a 1.9% increase in May. May's figure was revised down from 2.1% gain.

Current figures:

Name Price Change Change %

FTSE 100 6,722.68 -29.73 -0.44 %

DAX 11,635.07 -1.23 -0.01 %

CAC 40 5,192.85 -3.88 -0.07 %