At 08:00 GMT, the Bank of England unveiled its rate decision at the end of its August 6 meeting, to keep interest rates at 0.10% unchanged, which was widely expected, as the bank has held two emergency meetings during March to respond to the coronavirus impact, and delivered 2 rate cuts with the first at 50 basis points and the second at 15 basis points.

Asian stock indices opened the fourth session of the week and August mixed but mostly lower, with Japan, China, New Zealand, and Hong Kong lower, while Australia and South Korea gained ground. 

Earlier New Zealand data showed inflation expectations up to 1.43% from 1.24% in the second quarter. 

The World Health Organization warned it's possible that no vaccine would work against Covid 19 while still maintaining hope.. as global record infections surpass 18.4 million cases with the death toll passing 700,000. 

Japan's TOPEX fell 0.28%, while Nikkei 225 slipped 0.33% to 22,440. 

China's CSI 300 fell 0.56%, while Shanghai declined 0.56% to 3,358. 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.3% to 24,776, while South Korea's KOSPI rose 0.71% to 2,328. 

New Zealand's NZX 50 fell 0.29%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.26% to 6,017. 

Sterling rose in European trade on Thursday for another session against dollar, marking five-month highs after Bank of England's policy decisions. 

GBP/USD rose 0.5% to 1.3183, the highest since March, and after closing up 0.3% yesterday, the first profit in four days. 

Sterling rose 5.5% in July, the second monthly profit in a row and the largest since May 2009. 

The largest profit in 11 years came as the greenback tumbled and demand rose on higher risk currencies. 

The dollar index fell 0.2% on Thursday on track for the third loss, marking 27-month lows at 92.52. 

The disappointing US payrolls data in July dented dollar's appeal and hurt prospects for US economy. 

Otherwise, Bank of England voted on Thursday to maintain rates at 0.10%, and the assets purchase program at 745 billion pound. 

The bank expanded its program by 100 billion pounds a month at the last meeting to counter Covid 19 and EU uncertainty. 

Oil prices rose in European trade for the fifth straight session to near five-month highs as concerns recede about US oversupply. 

US crude rose 0.6% to $42.43 a barrel, while Brent climbed 0.5% to $45.52 a barrel. 

US crude rallied 1.7% on Wednesday, the fourth profit in a row, marking a five-month high at $43.50 a barrel, while Brent rose 2.25% to the highest since March at $46.22. 

Oil's gains came after the US Energy Administration reported a cut in commercial stocks by 7.4 million barrels in the week ending July 31, passing estimates of a 3.4 million cut.

Total stocks tumbled to 518.5 million barrels, the lowest since April 10 in a positive sign for US demand. 

US output fell 100 thousand bpd last week to a total of 11 million bpd, while remaining the world's top producer.