European stocks fell on Thursday, although some upbeat earnings news as well as a weaker euro helped to limit overall losses ahead of the Bank of England's monetary policy decision, due later in the day.
The central bank is expected to keep interest rates on hold, but market participants will keep an eye on the minutes from the meeting as well as updated forward guidance via the Quarterly Inflation Report.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was down half a percent at 378.24 in late opening deals after climbing as much as 2 percent on Wednesday.
The German DAX was down as much as 1 percent, while France's CAC 40 index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 were down about 0.7 percent each.
TalkTalk Telecom slumped 11 percent in London as it issued a profit warning and announced a temporary reduction in dividends in order to fund investment in growth.
Thomas Cook tumbled 4 percent after the British travel giant warned of an unpredictable market.
Vinci fell 2 percent despite the French concessions and construction company posting higher full-year 2017 net income and predicting a further rise in profits and revenue this year.
Zurich Insurance Group jumped 3 percent after its 2017 profit topped forecasts.
Swiss Re advanced 4.5 percent amid reports that Japan's Softbank is in talks to acquire a stake in the reinsurer.
Akzo Nobel NV rallied 3 percent after backing its 2020 outlook.
Italian lender UniCredit rose 2 percent after its fourth-quarter results topped analyst expectations.
Societe Generale shares jumped 4 percent. The French bank delivered a surprise profit in the fourth quarter, beating expectations for a loss affected by several exceptional items.
Publicis Groupe advanced more than 5 percent after the advertising group delivered fourth-quarter and full-year revenues in line with estimates.
GSK shares rallied 2.7 percent. The pharmaceutical company expects to maintain its full-year dividend after reporting record revenues for 2017.
Commerzbank rallied 2 percent. The German lender aims to reinstate a dividend in 2018 after reporting better-than-expect revenue and profit for the fourth quarter.
by RTT Staff Writer
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