Europe midday: Stocks slide as minutes show BoE policymakers divided on interest rates

European stocks declined after minutes of the Bank of England’s (BoE) latest policy meeting showed members were split on whether to raise interest rates.

Members of the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 7-2 in favour of keeping the cost of borrowing at 0.5% for the fifth month in a row, minutes of the 4 December meeting revealed. The only members of the committee to vote for a 25 basis-point rise in rates in December were Ian McCafferty and Martin Weale.

The MPC unanimously voted to keep quantitative easing at £375bn. The last time members voted to change asset purchases was in June 2013, when three members backed an increase.

At the same time, the UK saw the release of labour market data which showed the unemployment rate held at 6% in the three months to October, compared to expectations of 5.9%. The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in November fell by 26,900 to 900,100.

In the euro-area, inflation rose 0.3% year-on-year in November, Eurostat confirmed, as expected. Inflation remains well below the European Central Bank’s (ECB) target of just under 2%.

Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras faces the first of three rounds of a presidential vote. The vote will determine whether Greece will enter snap national elections.

FOMC policy decision

The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to maintain interest rates at 0.25% when it announces its decision at 19:00.

The Fed has said it will keep rates low for a considerable time and analysts see the central bank holding off on any increase until mid- 2015.

The Fed is also due to release its economic projections and Chair Janet Yellen will hold a press conference following the policy decision.

UCB, Acciona

UCB SA declined after the sale of its US generic-drug business to two private-equity firms for $1.53bn fell through.

Acciona SA dropped after Expansion reported that the company’s contract to build a tunnel in Melbourne could be suspended by the new state government.

Royal Philips dropped after agreeing to buy Volcano Corp. for $1bn.

The euro fell 0.42% to $1.2458.

Brent crude dropped 1.45% to $59.15 amid pressure on the oil industry.