A Bank of England decision to leave rates unchanged at its first meeting since Britain voted to quit the EU left the London market unimpressed yesterday although European stocks finished higher.
All eyes were on London after the appointment of a new British finance minister and with traders waiting to see if the Bank of England would cut its main interest rate to a new record-low level under 0.50%.
In anticipation of a possible rate cut, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index was 1% higher in mid-morning but slid after the BoE’s 8-1 decision to hold fire on rates.
At the close, the index was down 0.24% at 6,654.47 points, despite a hint that the bank would cut rates next month.
Eurozone markets took a more positive view as Frankfurt rallied 1.3% to close above 10,000 points for the first time since the seismic British referendum. The Paris market also rose by 1.1%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded up 0.7% at 18,513.06, the broad-based S&P 500 was flat while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.5%.
Strong earnings from JPMorgan Chase boosted US stocks as the Dow member jumped 2.2% on second quarter earnings and revenues which topped expectations. 
Citigroup and Wells Fargo, which report earnings on Friday, rose 2.8% and 1.3%, respectively.
Bank executives described US growth as solid and said it was too soon to know how the British vote to leave the European Union would affect operations.
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare identified an overall “party mood” on expectations of more stimulus from central banks and in Japan.
Looking to the likelihood of an August rate cut in Britain, O’Hare said the bank of England “did nothing to take away the stimulus punch bowl from which the market has been drowning its sorrows, raising the roof, and pretty much partying like it’s 1999.” 
In foreign exchange, the pound extended a recovery from recent 31-year lows against the dollar, adding two cents to stand at 1.3345.