European shares edge lower ahead of ECB, BoE

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.2 percent
                                
 * Miners slip back
                                
 * Renault soars after cutting Volvo stake
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]
                                
 
                                
 By Brian Gorman
                                
 LONDON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - European shares edged lower in
early trade on Thursday, ahead of interest rate decisions and
policy indications from the European Central Bank and Bank of
England.
                                
 At 0826 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top
European shares was down 0.2 percent at 1,068.23 points, after
rising 1.9 percent in the previous two sessions.
                                
 The index is up more than 65 percent from the record low of
March, 2009, but has gained barely 2 percent in 2010. 
                                
 The BoE and the ECB are both expected to say they are
keeping interest rates at record low levels of 0.5 and 1 percent
respectively. 
                                
 "We're not expecting the Bank of England to do anything
concrete today. The markets have been pushed up on the
expectations of QE (quantitative easing), but that's generally
U.S. QE. People expect the Fed to do more QE next month," said
Philip Isherwood , European equities strategist at Evolution
Securities.
                                
 The dollar hit a 15-year low against the yen and fell across
the board on Thursday on growing speculation that the Federal
Reserve may implement more monetary easing as early as next
month. The euro <EUR=> rose to its highest since February
against the dollar.
                                
 
                                
 RATE DECISIONS
                                
 Miners were generally lower, giving up some gains from the
previous session, though gold hit another record high and copper
remained near recent highs, boosted by the weaker dollar.
Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L> fell 3.2 and 0.9 percent
respectively.
                                
 Antofagasta <ANTO.L> shed 2.4 percent, with the Chilean
copper miner impacted by a downgrade to "sell" from "hold" by
Citigroup on valuation grounds.
                                
 Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <.FTSE>, Germany's DAX
<.GDAXI> and France's CAC40 <.FCHI> fell between 0.1 and 0.3
percent. 
                                
 "With the rate decisions today and the jobs data tomorrow,
investors are maybe just taking profits off the table after a
strong couple of days. The move lower isn't massive in the
context of things," said Joshua Raymond, market strategist at
City Index.
                                
 Renault <RENA.PA> soared 7.2 percent after the French
carmaker said it sold most of its 21.7 percent stake in Swedish
truck maker Volvo <VOLVb.ST>, reducing the holding to 6.8
percent. Volvo shares fell 4.4 percent.
                                
 Weekly U.S. jobless claims are also due later, coming after
weaker-than- expected ADP employment data on Wednesday. "People
will still wait for the monthly payroll numbers on Friday," said
Isherwood. 
                                
 British house prices fell 3.6 percent in September, the
fastest rate since records began in 1983, said the Halifax.
[ID:nLAC005771]
                                
 Housebuilders Barratt Developments <BDEV.L> and Taylor
Wimpey <TW.L> fell  3.8 and 3.1 percent respectively.
 (Editing by David Holmes)