FTSE 100 up 0.2, FTSE 250 adds 0.3
Tate Lyle slips after deal to buy CP Kelco for 1.8 bln
J Sainsbury rises after deal to sell banking business to NatWest
Bank of England vote at 1100 GMT

June 20 Reuters London stocks edged higher on Thursday even as investors adopted a waitandwatch stance ahead of a highly anticipated interest rate decision by the Bank of England BoE.

The bluechip FTSE 100 was up 0.2, and set to register a third straight day of gains, if current trend holds.

The midcap FTSE 250 was up 0.3 at 20,450.08 points.

The pound was steady against the dollar at 1.2706.

Still, investors refrained from making massive bets as they eagerly count down to the central bank39;s vote at 1100 GMT.

The worry is that it looks like a lot of good news is priced in … from the recent inflation print in the UK, we are still not out of the woods and central banks want to avoid a wage price spiral, said Arun Sai, senior multi asset strategist at Pictet Asset Management.

While it is widely anticipated that the BoE will hold the interest rates steady, all eyes will be on the votesplit and the comments from officials to assess the future trajectory of borrowing costs in Britain.

The BoE can39;t go on a victory lap … the market would be looking for commentary on how worried they are about the inflation print, Sai added.

Among individual stocks, Sainsbury39;s gained 1 after NatWest struck a deal to acquire most of the banking business of the British retailer….