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Sept 19 (Reuters) - European shares edged higher on
Thursday, helped by a rise in banks, after the U.S. Federal
Reserve cut interest rates but set a higher bar for further
reductions.
European banks .SX7P rose 1.1%, the most among the major
sectors.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.2% with
lender-heavy Milan .FTMIB and Madrid .IBEX outperforming.
The FTSE 100 index .FTSE was 0.1% lower ahead of a Bank of
England monetary policy statement at 1100 GMT, where it is
expected to stand pat on rates.
Wartsila WRT1V.HE was the worst performer on the STOXX 600
on an HSBC price target cut after the Finnish engineering group
warned on 2019 profit on Wednesday. European steel stocks ArcelorMittal MT.AS , Salzgitter
SZGG.DE , Voestalpine VOES.VI , SSAB SSABa.ST , Outokumpu
OUT1V.HE and Thyssenkrupp TKAG.DE declined after United
States Steel's X.N gloomy current-quarter earnings forecast.