By Mucahithan Avcioglu
ISTANBUL (AA) - European stock markets ended Thursday in the red as investors focused on the Bank of England's (BoE) interest rate decision and remarks about uncertainty caused by the US trade policy.
The BoE kept its policy interest rate constant at 4.5% on Thursday, in line with forecasts.
Noting the implementation of new US tariffs on imports, the bank said global trade policy uncertainty has intensified, and Washington has made a range of tariff announcements, to which some governments have responded.
"Other geopolitical uncertainties have also increased and indicators of financial market volatility have risen globally," it added.
Defense stocks slipped Thursday after gaining earlier this month on Germany's new exemptions from its debt break rule, encouraging hundreds of billions of euros in funding into defense and infrastructure spending.
The Stoxx Aerospace and Defense Index was down 2% following five weeks of notable increases.
Stock prices of Thyssenkrupp lost early gains to fall 4%, Rheinmetall was at 3.1% and Airbus came in at 2.3%.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 0.43%, or 2.39 points, to 552.98.
Germany's DAX 40 index was down 1.24%, or 288.91 points, to close at 22,999.15.
France's CAC 40 also lost 0.95%, or 77.27 points, to 8,094.20, and Italy's FTSE MIB 30 index dove 1.32% to 39,188.17 in a 524.49-point fall.
On the other hand, Britain’s FTSE 100 was mostly flat, falling 4.6 points to 8,701.99.