Major stock markets in Europe opened mostly lower on Thursday after the Bank of England announced its decision to keep the interest rates at 0.10%. Credit Agricole, Siemens, Lufthansa, ING, Unicredit, AXA and Adidas all published their quarterly earnings reports before the markets opened. Also, Germany's Destatis reported that factory orders jumped 27.9% month on month in June in the country.

The DAX rose by 0.06% at 9:02 am CET, with Covestro AG advancing 0.88% and leading the gains at 9:04 am CET. London's FTSE 100 lost 0.79% at 9:00 am CET as Glencore dropped 3.60% at 9:02 am CET. The CAC declined by 0.30% at 9:00 am CET, with AXA, which fell by 2.05% at 9:03 am CET, as the worst performer.

The euro was 0.08% up compared to the dollar at 9:07 am CET, trading for 1.18720. The British pound increased by 0.30% against the American currency, going for 1.31514 concurrently.