Britain's top share index dipped by midday on Thursday after the Bank of England kept interest rates unchanged as expected, miners tracked metal prices lower and Vodafone fell on talk of an acquisition, Reuters reported. By 1128 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 6.1 points, or 0.1 percent, at 5,964.0, after shedding 1.5 percent on Wednesday to hit its lowest closing level since mid-April, its first sub-6,000 close since then. Index heavyweight Vodafone shed 1.6 percent after it confirmed that its 45 percent-owned, U.S-based Verizon Wireless venture is in advanced talks to buy rural mobile service provider Alltel Corp for $27 billion. Miners were the biggest sectoral loser, tracking weaker metal prices. BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Xstrata, Antofagasta and Lonmin lost between 1.8 and 4.6 percent. Platinum specialist Johnson Matthey lost 1.2 percent despite beating forecasts with a 16 percent rise in annual profit. The Bank of England held interest rates at 5.0 percent for a second month running, as it balanced the risk of a sharp economic slowdown against the threat of high inflation shooting up further. "I don't see any action in terms of lowering rates, this side of the summer. They really want to see just how the data picture builds up and see if there is any reduction in the pressure of the price of oil and commodities," said Manus Cranny at MF Global Spreads. "They haven't got any room to cut rates given inflation ... it depends whether recession takes over." The European Central Bank is also expected to hold rates at 4 percent when it releases its policy decision at 1145 GMT. Banks recovered some of their recent losses, with Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS up between 2.4 and 5.2 percent despite the latest weak UK house price data adding to the sector's woes. A rating upgrade from Citigroup also helped lift RBS. British house prices fell by a larger-than-expected 2.4 percent in May, HBOS said, providing further evidence that the housing market downturn is gathering pace. Oil shares also rebounded as crude prices edged towards $123 a barrel. BP advanced 0.3 percent and Royal Dutch Shell put on 0.7 percent.
