European markets set for mixed open with earnings, Bank of England, elections in focus

• The Bank of England announces its monetary policy decision at noon London time and is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate and quantitative easing program unchanged for now
• It's another busy day for corporate earnings in Europe, with AB InBev, Societe Generale, Air France-KLM, Volkswagen, ING and UniCredit among the blue chip companies reporting.

European markets are set for a muted open on Thursday as investors monitor a slew of corporate earnings and await the latest monetary policy decision from the Bank of England.

Britain's FTSE 100 is seen around 4 points higher at 7,043, Germany's DAX is expected to fall by around 15 points to 15,156 and France's CAC 40 is set to open flat at 6,339, according to IG data.

Stocks in Europe are set for a mixed handover from Asia-Pacific, where markets in Japan and South Korea advanced on their return to trading after public holidays, while mainland Chinese shares declined.

U.S. stock futures are pointing to a flat open on Wall Street later on Thursday; the Dow closed out Wednesday's session at a new record high.

Investors stateside will have an eye on last week's initial jobless claims figure from the U.S. Labor Department, with economists surveyed by Dow Jones expecting a print of 527,000.

Back in Europe, the Bank of England announces its monetary policy decision at noon London time and is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate and quantitative easing program unchanged for now, while noting that the U.K.'s economic recovery is accelerating, according to Reuters.

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On the data front, final U.K. composite PMI (purchasing managers' index) readings for April are due at 9:30 a.m. London time before March's euro zone retail sales at 10 a.m.

Investors in the U.K. will also be watching local elections across the country over the next 48 hours along with a crucial Scottish Parliament election, which could raise the prospect of another referendum on Scottish independence from the U.K.

It's another busy day for corporate earnings in Europe, with AB InBev, Societe Generale, Air France-KLM, Volkswagen, ING and UniCredit among the blue chip companies reporting.

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