Pound falls, European stocks rise as BoE cuts rates

By Nigel Stephenson LONDON (Reuters) - European shares rose, government bond yields fell and sterling weakened against the dollar and euro on Thursday after the Bank of England cut interest rates and restarted bond purchases in a bid to ease the economic hit from June's vote to leave the EU. U.S. stock index futures also rose and were last up 0.2-0.3 percent, indicating Wall Street would open modestly higher. The BoE cut its main rate by a quarter percentage point to a record low 0.25 percent, i