Both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England left their key interest rates unchanged this morning.

But analysts see them tilting in opposite directions, with the BoE leaning toward a cut, and the ECB likely to hike rates the next time it moves.

At today’s meeting the Governing Council of the ECB decided that the minimum bid rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 4.00%, 5.00% and 3.00% respectively.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee also voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 5.75%. The previous change in Bank Rate was an increase of 25 basis points to 5.75% on July 5.

Both moves were expected. “This was the fifth consecutive month that the ECB opted for a wait and see policy approach, but unlike at the BoE, if anything, the bias remains tilted to the upside for Eurozone rates,” said CIBC World Markets. It noted that ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet’s press conference policy language is consistent with its assessment for Eurozone rates: a wait and see monetary policy approach is likely to prevail for a while longer but the tightening bias remains in place. “In the end, we continue to believe that the last rate hike scenario will not materialise but for now, the rate option hike persists.”

“Overall, it was another unsurprising press conference from the ECB. We can confidently stick to our view that rates are likely to remain on hold for the foreseeable future in the Eurozone, with anyone hoping for a rate cut likely to be disappointed. In fact, while not our central scenario, the rate hike risk cannot be totally underestimated, especially should we see evidence of rising wage inflation,” CIBC concluded.

Meanwhile, in England, when a rate decision is not of a controversial or unexpected, there’s no policy statement released. “We believe that the case for a BoE rate cut has gained significant momentum of late and unlike at the ECB, today’s rate discussions would most likely have been centred towards policy easing,” CIBC said. “It is not a question of if but when for a BoE rate cut and the answer to that question depends on how pre-emptive the MPC decides to be. The longer the MPC waits before delivering its first rate cut, the more catching up will be required at a later stage.”

HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc. said it is looking for the first rate cut out of the Bank of England in February 2008.