The Bank of England voted to hold rates steady at 0.5% Thursday, but a vote of 6-3 among the nine members of the rate setting Monetary Policy Committee suggest the policy tract is starting to get more hawkish ahead of the next meeting in August.

Is it Friday yet? These are the stories moving the market ahead of Thursday's opening bell.

The five biggest U.S stocks, all of which trade in the tech sector, could top $4 trillion in value Thursday, overtaking the collective worth of all but one of the world's stock markets.

A brief respite in trade war rhetoric has global stocks edging higher Thursday, but investors remain broadly cautious as China's state-run media continues to warn that it's ready to match U.S. tariffs.

U.S. stock futures fall on Thursday as investors eye developments in the U.S.-China trade war; oil prices slide on reports OPEC is nearing a deal to boost output; sales at Micron jump; Daimler issues a profit warning.

Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler traded at the lowest level in nearly two years Thursday after the luxury carmaker said import tariffs and emissions issues would hit full year profits.

Global oil prices tumbled Thursday as Saudi Arabia's powerful Energy Ministers, Khalid Al-Falih, suggested OPEC members were close to an agreement that would boost output into the second half of the year.

President Xi Jinping says countries are 'facing new development opportunities' during meeting with visiting Nepalese leader KP Sharma Oli

Beijing accuses Washington of picking China as a "scapegoat" for its own problems

Karen Yeung karen.yeung@scmp.com