Europe retreats as BoE forecast hits London stocks

(Reuters) – European shares dipped on Thursday as forecasts of a slower post-pandemic economic rebound in the UK hit London stock markets, while disappointing quarterly updates from Glencore and AXA weighed on broader sentiment.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index <.stoxx> slipped 0.4% by 0710 GMT, with London’s FTSE 100 <.ftse> falling 1.1%.

The more internationally-focussed UK stocks took a hit as sterling rose after the Bank of England kept rates unchanged and warned of possible risks from taking interest rates below zero. [GBP/]

Mining group Glencore dropped 4.3% after it decided to scrap its dividend to focus on lowering debt as the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to book a $3.2 billion impairment charge.

French insurer AXA slipped 2.6% after it dropped its 2020 earnings target and said it would not make additional payouts to shareholders in the fourth quarter.

On the bright side, Adidas gained 3.5% as it forecast a rebound in profits in the third quarter and Lufthansa jumped 4.8% even as said it does not expect air travel demand to return to pre-crisis levels before 2024.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)