BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks eked out modest gains
on Thursday as investors awaited the Bank of England's rate decision later in
the day.

The BoE is widely expected to hold its interest rate at 5.25 percent for the
seventh straight session despite inflation hitting the 2 percent target in May.
The current bank rate is the highest since early 2008.

Elsewhere, the Swiss National Bank delivered another interest rate cut, reducing
its policy rate by 25 basis points to 1.25 percent, as expected by two-thirds of
analysts.

Norway's central bank held its key policy rate at 4.5 percent as expected.

The pan European STOXX 600 rose half a percent to 516.42 after falling 0.2
percent on Wednesday.

The German DAX and France's CAC 40 both added 0.6 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE
100 was up 0.2 percent.

Euro zone government bond yields rose as France prepares to sell bonds for the
first time since President Emmanuel Macron called for a snap election.

Technology stocks topped the gainers list, with ASM International surging more
than 5 percent after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock's rating to 'overweight'
from 'equal weight.

Germany's MorphoSys climbed 1 percent after it has entered into a delisting
agreement with Novartis BidCo AG and Novartis AG upon closing the acquisition by
Novartis in May this year.

Nordex, a provider of wind turbine systems, gained 1.7 percent on securing
orders for about 172 MW from various customers.

Vallourec, a maker of tubular solutions and pipelines for energy industries,
gained 1 percent in Paris after it has extended a 2019 contract originally worth
around $900 million with the National Oil Company of Abu Dhabi for two years.

Technip Energies rallied 2.5 percent. The technology company focused on energy
and chemical industries said that it has bagged a significant contract from
Indian Oil Corporation Limited.

Food group Danone slumped 4 percent after announcing it is targeting
like-for-like sales growth of 3-5 percent for the 2025 to 2028 period.

Tate & Lyle fell 4.4 percent after the British food ingredients maker agreed to
acquire nature-based ingredients provider CP Kelco for $1.8 billion.

Investment platform CMC Markets soared 6 percent after it reported a 52 percent
jump in annual profit and forecast higher operating income for fiscal 2025.

Retailer Sainsbury added 1 percent after NatWest Group agreed to acquire its
banking business.



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