BoE hold stems sterling slide, tech nerves sap shares

European shares slipped on Thursday, having uncoupled from Asia and Wall Street this week, while the pound eased away from a 7-month low as the Bank of England opted against a pre-UK budget interest rate cut.

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Asia’s main markets had made solid gains overnight, some after sharp tech-led selloffs earlier this week, but in Europe and in pre-market US trading those same worries were already resurfacing.

The pan-European STOXX 600 lost a modest 0.2% but French data-centre equipment firm Legrand saw its shares plunge almost I98 as it revealed just how painful US trade tariffs are proving.

Wall Street also looked set for another subdued start with chip giant Qualcomm’s shares pointing down more than 98 after a warning that its chips might not be quite as dominant in Samsung gadgets in future as it has been used to.

Over in the currency markets, the dollar was edging back from the more-than-6-month high it had hit after upbeat US data on Wednesday and as traders digested the day's main business - the Bo’s rate decision and one in Norway.

Ahead of what are likely to be UK tax rises in UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget later this month, but also mindful of Britain's still high headline inflation rate, the nine-strong BoE Monetary Policy Committee voted 5-4 to keep the central bank's benchmark Bank Rate at 4.08