ROME: European stocks declined Thursday, moving away from a two-week high, as some shares came under pressure as they traded without dividend rights.
The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -0.80% dropped 0.8% to close at 400.70. The pan-European index finished Wednesday’s session higher by 1.3%, the best close since July 20.
The energy group SXEP, -1.66% was among biggest decliners as oil prices CLU5, +0.49% continued to move lower. Oil prices on Wednesday fell to their lowest level since mid-March after a larger-than-expected fall in U.S. crude inventories was overshadowed by a rise in supplies of oil products.
Oil major BP PLC BP., -3.00% BP, +0.03% shares fell 3%, with the additional pressure of trading ex-dividend. Other shares trading without dividend rights included Anglo American PLC AAL, -2.84% with the miner’s stock down 2.8%.
The moves contributed to a 0.1% loss in the U.K.’s FTSE 100 UKX, -0.08% to 6,747.09. But the index narrowed its loss after minutes from the Bank of England’s meeting that ended Wednesday showed an 8-1 vote in favor of leaving rates unchanged, with fewer policy hawks voting for an increase than markets expected. Read London Markets.
The pound GBPUSD, +0.0258% changed hands at $1.5511 versus $1.5602 late Wednesday. The Bank of England also released its quarterly inflation report Thursday in a shift of timing for the release of publications dubbed “Super Thursday” .
