European shares near record high following robust earnings; BoE rate decision awaited

European shares hovered near a record high on Thursday, buoyed by a raft of upbeat earnings, including drugmaker AstraZeneca, and ahead of the Bank of England’s monetary policy verdict which is likely to result in an interest rate cut.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.5% as of 0813 GMT,…