European Stocks Fall as Bank of England Lifts Rates to 0.75%

By Investors Hub

European stocks have fallen sharply on Thursday, with auto and resource stocks pacing the declines on news the Trump administration is considering raising tariffs on Chinese goods.

Traders are also digesting the widely expected news that the Bank of England lifted its key benchmark rate by a quarter point to bring inflation sustainably to the target.

The Monetary Policy Committee, headed by Governor Mark Carney, unanimously decided to lift the benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 0.75 percent, the bank said in a statement.

While the German DAX Index has tumbled by 1.5 percent, the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.9 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.6 percent.

German luxury carmaker BMW has moved sharply lower on the day after reporting a drop in second-quarter earnings.

Daimler, Volkswagen, Renault and Peugeot have also fallen on worries an escalating tariff war will hurt their margins and sales.

German engineering giant Siemens is posting a steep loss after announcing a new company structure under Vision 2020+ to give individual businesses significantly more entrepreneurial freedom.

Dialog Semiconductor has also plummeted on news the company expects third quarter gross margin to be broadly in line with second quarter and fiscal 2018 to be broadly in line with fiscal 2017.

Inmarsat has also tumbled in London. The satellite operator cut its dividend after reporting a 20 percent drop in second quarter earnings.

On the other hand, Rolls-Royce Holdings has rallied as the company sounded upbeat about its full-year profit outlook after reporting a pre-tax loss in the first half.

Asset manager Amundi has also soared after reporting a 14 percent increase in second quarter net profits.