Europe holds rates; England lowers

FRANKFURT, Germany - The European Central Bank held its benchmark rate unchanged at 4 percent on Thursday, despite surging inflation and a stronger euro, as it considers how ripples from the U.S. subprime mortgage morass will affect the economy.

Earlier Thursday, Britain cut its key rate by a quarter of a point to 5.5 percent, worried about a slowing economy.

Analysts expect the ECB, which oversees monetary policy the 13 countries that use the euro, to wait until the second quarter of next year before it moves again, in no rush to follow rate cuts in the United States and Canada.

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