Europe open: Stocks dip as investors keep an eye on Capitol Hill

Stocks across the Continent were a tad weaker on Thursday as investors kept an eye on talks on Capitol Hill around another stimulus package and after the head of the Bank of England stressed the uncertainty around the current outlook for the economy.

German factory orders figures however pleased, rebounding again in June at nearly three times the expected speed.

But in any case, investors were concerned that Washington, having "struggled to develop a coherent response to the virus itself, will now fumble its plan to save the economy," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

As of 1035 BST the benchmark Stoxx 600 was off by 0.43% to 363.6, alongside a fall of 0.56% to 4,905.56 for the French Cac-40 while the FTSE Mibtel was down 0.72% at 19,598.57.

Germany's Dax meanwhile was drifting lower by just 0.03% to 12,656.81, following the release of an unexpectedly strong rebound in factory orders in the euro area's largest economy during the previous month.

Euro/dollar meanwhile was little changed at 1.1861 but December gold futures on COMEX were adding 0.57% to $2,060.9/oz..

Britain's FTSE 100 on the other hand was down 1.32% to 6,024.20 after the Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, told reporters that negative interest rates "are part of our toolbox, but at the moment we don’t have a plan to use them."

That sent Sterling bounding higher by 0.54% to 1.3185 with the rise in the pound sapping the strength of the top-flight index.

Bailey nonetheless described the current outlook as "unusually uncertain", adding that at this time the Monetary Policy Committee's "medium-term projections are a less informative guide than usual."

German industry delivered a blow-out performance in June, with the Office of Federal Statistics announcing a 27.9% month-on-month increase for factory orders (consensus: 10.1%).

Against a year ago factory orders were down 11.3% versus a 29.3% decline in the month before (consensus: -18.5%).