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Pound hits two-month high ahead of Bank of England interest rate decision – business live
Bank of England leaves interest rates on hold but hints rise is coming - business live
(35 minutes later)
The Institute of Director’s senior economist, Tej Parikh, reckons the Bank made the right decision this month.
“Business leaders will welcome the Bank of England’s decision not to spring any surprises this month, but firms and households will be on tenterhooks for what comes in May.
“The Bank has been paving the way for a rate rise, but must tread lightly until there is richer evidence of growing inflationary pressures, to avoid unnecessarily placing a speed bump in the way of economic activity.
UK savers and borrowers should prepare for interest rates to rise in May, warns Ed Monk, associate director for Personal Investing at Fidelity International:
Monk says the recent pick-up in UK wage growth (to 2.8%, if you include bonuses) means the Bank is worried that the economy could overheat.
“The message from the Bank of England to borrowers couldn’t really be clearer: get ready for higher rates now. Two members voted for a rate rise this month and the Bank said nothing to dispel expectations that rates will rise in May.
“The rate rise made in November felt like a straightforward reversal of the emergency post-Brexit cut, but this now feels more like we’re entering a genuine tightening phase at the Bank.
The minutes of this week’s meeting show that the Bank of England expects to raise interest rates over the coming months, having left them at 0.5% today.
It says:
Given the prospect of excess demand over the forecast period, an ongoing tightening of monetary policy over the forecast period would be appropriate to return inflation sustainably to its target at a more conventional horizon.
All members agreed that any future increases in Bank Rate were likely to be at a gradual pace and to a limited extent.
However, there was a split among the Monetary Policy Committee over when to take the plunge and hike borrowing costs.
Ian McCafferty and Michael Saunders pushed for a rise today, arguing hawkishly that it would be reckless to wait:
The minutes say:
These members noted the widespread evidence that slack was largely used up and that pay growth was picking up, presenting upside risks to inflation in the medium term. A modest tightening of monetary policy at this meeting could mitigate the risks from a more sustained period of above-target inflation that might ultimately necessitate a more abrupt change in policy and hence a greater adjustment in growth and employment.
But governor Mark Carney, deputies Ben Broadbent, Dave Ramsden and Jon Cunliffe, chief economist Andy Haldane, and external members Silvana Tenreyro and Gertjan Vlieghe weren’t convinced.
They argued that it would be better to wait until they have new economic forecasts in May.
There had been few surprises in recent economic data and the February Inflation Report projections, conditioned on a gently rising path of Bank Rate, had appeared broadly on track. The May forecast round would enable the Committee to undertake a fuller assessment of the underlying momentum in the economy, the degree of slack remaining and the extent of domestic inflationary pressures.
GBP Intraday (Following BOE Decision): 7-2 in favor of no change, 2 wanted a hike pic.twitter.com/nRcXgtNfI4
The pound has jumped, following the news that two policymakers - Ian McCafferty and Michael Saunders - voted to raise UK interest rates today.
Sterling has hit €1.151 against the euro, the highest level sine June 2017.
It’s also up against the US dollar at $1.420, a new seven-week high.
That means traders are anticipating that the next rate hike will come soon - quite possibly at May’s meeting.
NEWSFLASH: The Bank of England has left UK interest rates unchanged at 0.5%.
Two members of the MPC voted to hike rates, but were outvoted by the other seven policymakers.
More to follow....
Five minutes to go, until we learn whether the Bank of England has voted to leave rates on hold....
Five minutes to go, until we learn whether the Bank of England has voted to leave rates on hold....
Britain’s FTSE 100 shares index has fallen below the 7,000 point mark for the first time in 15 months.
Britain’s FTSE 100 shares index has fallen below the 7,000 point mark for the first time in 15 months.
Worries over trade wars, plus the strength of the pound, have combined to pull the index of blue-chip companies down to 6,983, a drop of 55 points.
Worries over trade wars, plus the strength of the pound, have combined to pull the index of blue-chip companies down to 6,983, a drop of 55 points.
The team at Deutsche Bank believe the Bank of England will raise rates in two months time...
The team at Deutsche Bank believe the Bank of England will raise rates in two months time...
Deutsche Bank 1/2: @bankofengland decision due out at 12pm GMT today. The consensus is for no change in policy while market pricing also assigns a low 16% probability of a hike. #forex #fx #BoE #forextrading #centralbanks
Deutsche Bank 1/2: @bankofengland decision due out at 12pm GMT today. The consensus is for no change in policy while market pricing also assigns a low 16% probability of a hike. #forex #fx #BoE #forextrading #centralbanks
DB 2/2: bigger question is whether or not we see a more hawkish #BoE centre in light of yesterday’s stronger than expected wages numbers. Indeed, pricing for a May hike is over 80% & our #UK economists yesterday changed their view to a rate hike (from a hold) for 2 months’ time
DB 2/2: bigger question is whether or not we see a more hawkish #BoE centre in light of yesterday’s stronger than expected wages numbers. Indeed, pricing for a May hike is over 80% & our #UK economists yesterday changed their view to a rate hike (from a hold) for 2 months’ time
Here’s an explanation of how the Bank of England sets interest rates:
Here’s an explanation of how the Bank of England sets interest rates:
One of Gordon Brown’s first moves as chancellor in 1997 was to hand control of interest rates to an independent Bank of England. Previously the cost of borrowing had been decided between the chancellor and the governor of the Bank.
One of Gordon Brown’s first moves as chancellor in 1997 was to hand control of interest rates to an independent Bank of England. Previously the cost of borrowing had been decided between the chancellor and the governor of the Bank.
Rates are set by the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC), which consists of nine members – the Bank of England governor, the three deputy governors for monetary policy, financial stability and markets and banking, the chief economist and four external members appointed directly by the chancellor.
Rates are set by the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC), which consists of nine members – the Bank of England governor, the three deputy governors for monetary policy, financial stability and markets and banking, the chief economist and four external members appointed directly by the chancellor.
The four external members are appointed to bring thinking and expertise from outside the Bank to the meetings. A Treasury representative also attends the meetings and can discuss policy issues but is not allowed to vote.
The four external members are appointed to bring thinking and expertise from outside the Bank to the meetings. A Treasury representative also attends the meetings and can discuss policy issues but is not allowed to vote.
The committee meets monthly to discuss whether to cut, raise or leave interest rates unchanged, as well as other measures such as quantitative easing. The decisions are made after a vote by each committee member; in the event of a tie, the governor has the casting vote.
The committee meets monthly to discuss whether to cut, raise or leave interest rates unchanged, as well as other measures such as quantitative easing. The decisions are made after a vote by each committee member; in the event of a tie, the governor has the casting vote.
Minutes of the meetings are published after the rates decision has been announced.
Minutes of the meetings are published after the rates decision has been announced.
The pound is pushing higher as traders get ready for the Bank of England decision, in under 50 minutes.
The pound is pushing higher as traders get ready for the Bank of England decision, in under 50 minutes.
Sterling has risen to €1.1489 against the euro, its highest levels since January 25th.
Sterling has risen to €1.1489 against the euro, its highest levels since January 25th.
The City may be preparing for a hawkish announcement from the BoE, paving the way for a rate rise in May (a hike today would be a real shock...)
The City may be preparing for a hawkish announcement from the BoE, paving the way for a rate rise in May (a hike today would be a real shock...)
Another sterling morning for the Pound, BoE likely to take GBP/EUR through €1.15 pic.twitter.com/CjyBFgO2eg
Another sterling morning for the Pound, BoE likely to take GBP/EUR through €1.15 pic.twitter.com/CjyBFgO2eg
Craig Erlam of trading firm OANDA says:
Craig Erlam of trading firm OANDA says:
While a rate hike is not expected today, it is heavily priced in for May when the central bank will also release its inflation report containing new macro-economic projections.
While a rate hike is not expected today, it is heavily priced in for May when the central bank will also release its inflation report containing new macro-economic projections.
The Monetary Policy Committee has become notably more hawkish recently and the reference to rate hikes needing to come “somewhat earlier and by a somewhat greater extent” than it expected in November, last month was a clear reference to an upcoming meeting. If the MPC is still planning to raise in May, I would expect another clear hint from the central bank today.
The Monetary Policy Committee has become notably more hawkish recently and the reference to rate hikes needing to come “somewhat earlier and by a somewhat greater extent” than it expected in November, last month was a clear reference to an upcoming meeting. If the MPC is still planning to raise in May, I would expect another clear hint from the central bank today.
Over in the City, shares in printing group De La Rue have slumped by 5% after it missed out on the contract for Britain’s new blue-coloured passport.
De La Rue is fuming over the snub, especially as the contract has been awarded to Gemalto, a Franco-Dutch security firm.
Somewhat ironic, as these new passports have been hailed by Brexiteers as a benefit of leaving the EU.
De La Rue’s CEO, Martin Sutherland, has warned that jobs could be lost. He wants Theresa May to:
“come to my factory and explain my dedicated workforce why they think this is a sensible decision to offshore the manufacture of a British icon”.
Unions are urging the government to reverse the decision. Unite national officer Louisa Bull says:
“Theresa May and Amber Rudd need to explain to De La Rue workers why ‘taking back control’ means their jobs could be put at risk while the production of Britain’s new iconic passport is shipped overseas to France.
“It wouldn’t happen in France because of national security and it shouldn’t happen in the UK. De La Rue is the UK’s leading security printer making bank notes as well as passports sustaining thousands of decent jobs in the UK.
“Ministers need to reverse this decision and start supporting British business and UK workers through public procurement and an industrial strategy which is more than just sound bites.”
The contract was awarded under EU procurement rules, though, so a u-turn wouldn’t be easy. One could even argue that this is what free trade is all about.....
The BBC’s Rob Watson reckons the government will be worried:
#passport issue potentially very toxic for government. 1) there is comedy element of new blue passport being made overseas and 2) the danger voters think free trade promise of #Brexit = things they don’t like.
Optimism is building that Europe could win an exemption from America’s new US tariffs on steel and aluminium.
EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom has just held high-level talks with US officials, in an effort to prevent European metal-producers from being hit by Donald Trump’s import duties, which kick in tomorrow.
There’s nothing official yet, but EU officials are hopeful that Malmstrom’s efforts will pay off - and mean Europe needn’t enforce its threat of retaliatory tariffs on US imports.
European Commission vice-president Jyrki Katainen told Bloomberg TV that the visit went well.
“Cecilia Malmstrom had a good, very fruitful visit to Washington,.
We have good opportunities now to solve the issue and stabilize, or calm down, the problem.”
Last night, Malmstrom tweeted that the meetings had been productive:
Good meeting here in snowy Washington DC with Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. We have agreed to launch immediately a process of discussion with President Trump and the Trump Administration on trade issues of common concern... 1/2
...including steel and aluminium, with a view to identifying mutually acceptable outcomes as rapidly as possible. I will also speak to @USTradeRep Lighthizer later today. Returning to Brussels this evening. https://t.co/xnKyJbp7Q0 2/2
Newsflash: UK retail sales rose last month, but the broader picture is still downbeat.
Retail sales volumes (the amount of stuff people bought) rose by 0.8% in February, compared to forecasts of just 0.4%.
But after sharp falls earlier this winter, retail sales volumes are down 0.4% over the last quarter.
On an annual basis, retail sales were up 1.5% - again, much weaker than last year, as households are stretched by the cost of living squeeze.
This might make the Bank of England reluctant to raise borrowing costs....
The report also shows that consumers continued to spend more online. Internet shopping made up 17.2% of all retail spending, up from 15.6% a year ago. That helps explain why various high street chains have been struggling, or gone bust, in recent months.
Rhian Murphy, ONS senior statistician, says:
“Retail sales did grow in February, with increases seen in food, non-store and fuel, but this followed two months of decline in these sectors.
“However, the underlying three-month picture is one of falling sales, mainly due to strong declines across all main sectors in December.
“Store prices continue to rise across all store types, but at a lower rate than the previous month due to a slowdown in price growth, though clothing and household goods stores continued to see stronger price rises.
Just in: The eurozone’s recent economic surge seems to be levelling off.
Data firm Markit has reported that growth across eurozone service sector firms and manufacturers has slowed to its slowest since January 2017.
Companies reported that growth had slowed after a very strong performance last year, with new order and exports both rising at a slower rate.
Markit’s ‘composite output PMI’, which tracks activity across the eurozone’s private sector, dropped to 55.3 in March from 57.1 last month.
At a country level, output growth slowed to a seven-month low in France and an eight-month low in Germany.
It’s not a reason to panic -- the PMIs had been remarkably strong last year, so this is a return to more normal growth levels.
Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, says recent bad weather is one factor, plus ‘growing pains’ as European supply chains struggle to keep pace with recent growth.
But political issues - such as Brexit, and trade tariffs - are another factor.
Williamson says:
The fact that export order book growth has more than halved since the end of last year suggests the stronger euro is taking an increasing toll on export performance. Survey responses also highlighted how political uncertainty also appears to have intensified, dampening demand.
The data therefore suggest that eurozone growth peaked around the turn of the year and the region is settling into a slower, but still robust pace of expansion.
European stock markets have dropped this morning, as investors fret about the risks of a trade war.
The FTSE 100 is down 13 points, or 0.2%, at 7021 after falling through 7,000 points at the start of trading. Germany’s DAX has lost 0.4%.
Exporters are suffering from the strength of the pound and the euro against the US dollar today.
The markets are also being pulled down by signs that Wall Street will fall, especially if Donald Trump does to hit China with new sanctions.
Connor Campbell of SpreadEx says:
The state of the Dow futures, alongside the re-emergence of trade war chatter ahead of Trump’s China tariff announcement later this Thursday, left the European indices in a sorry state after the bell.
Alan Clarke of Scotia Bank is confident the Bank of England will leave rates on hold today:
We expect policy to be left unchanged at this meeting.
The focus of attention will be on whether there are any clues that support the case for a rate hike at the May MPC meeting.
Given fairly mixed data since February, we would not be too surprised if the vote was 9-0 for unchanged rates and that should not be seen as an obstruction to a hike in May.
But analysts at Mitsubishi UFG warn that a shock hike can’t be ruled out....
MUFG: "Outside chance that the BoE could deliver a rate hike as soon as today" pic.twitter.com/3Nie292crV
The US dollar has fallen against other major currencies overnight, as traders digested Jerome Powell’s debut press conference since becoming Fed chief.
I thought Powell handled the occasion pretty well (rattling through the questions within 45 minutes, not the full hour available). He was upbeat about the US economy, avoided any bear traps, and reassured listeners that the Fed would take the ‘middle ground’ as it seeks to normalise monetary policy without slowing growth.
So why has the dollar fallen?
Firstly, the Fed stuck to its forecast of three rate hikes in 2018, rather than slipping in a fourth. Investors can take that as a dovish signal (although the Fed is now forecasting an extra hike in 2019).
Secondly, Powell revealed that business leaders have told Fed officials they’re worried about a trade war breaking out. That’s a timely warning, as president Trump is expected to announce new tariffs and investment restrictions on China later today.
That’s enough to drive the pound up to a six-week high against the dollar, at $1.417.
China’s central bank has responded to last night’s move in US interest rates, by hiking its own borrowing costs.
The People’s Bank of China increased the cost of short-term loans to commercial lenders, hours after the Fed announced it was tightening policy in America.
Bloomberg has the details:
The People’s Bank of China raised the interest rates it charges on 7-day reverse-repurchase agreements by five basis points, the central bank said in a statement. The move is “in line with market expectations and a normal reaction to the Fed’s rate hike”, the PBOC said in a statement on the website.
China’s CB, PBoC raises borrowing costs after Fed hikes, (interest rates it charges on 7-day reserve repo by 5bp), chart @business https://t.co/tOJlglx4yn pic.twitter.com/kSus99plX4
#China’s central bank conducts 10 billion yuan 7-day reverse-repo, with rate going up to 2.55%. It follows US Fed’s move to raise rates. It comes only days after China’s newly appointed PBOC governor Yi Gang said its rate hike decision will largely based on domestic situations. pic.twitter.com/KlG1iOiF3V
The Bank of England could send the pound shooting higher at lunchtime, if it hints at a rate hike in the next few months (or even raises rates today, of course).
Konstantinos Anthis, head of research at ADS Securities, explains:
The focus today will be on the Bank of England rate decision which will have a significant effect on the medium-term outlook of the British pound. The UK currency has seen good demand over the past few days being supported by expectations for a positive labour market report - which indeed printed in a bullish fashion yesterday - but also hopes for a hawkish tone from the BoE today. The key drivers for this upbeat bias? Inflation rebounded higher last month, we noted good wage growth in yesterday’s employment report and there has even been progress in the Brexit negotiations.
All these factors paint a positive outlook for the pound and shape expectations for a bullish BoE message which will underpin investors’ hopes for a rate hike soon. There’s some speculation that the BoE might even go ahead and raise rates today but we believe that this is too optimistic - our base scenario suggests an interest rate increase in the summer, either in May or June. Today though a positive message and a consistent bullish bias from the British central bank will keep the pound in demand: we’re looking to the pound/ dollar to extend gains towards 1.42 and euro/ pound to break below the 0.87 mark.
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
It’s the Bank of England’s turn under the spotlight today, as policymakers on the Monetary Policy Committee will set UK interest rates at noon today ,
We’re not expecting a rate hike today, just four months after the first one in a decade. But the MPC could decide to steer the markets towards a move in May, as it tries to balance inflation pressures against Brexit uncertainty.
The MPC have some interesting economic data to digest, which may encourage policymakers to reach for the ‘rate hike’ button soon.
Tuesday’s drop in inflation to 2.7% took some pressure off the Bank, although prices are still rising faster than its 2% target.
That was followed by yesterday’s strong labour market report, showing that wages are rising at their fastest pace since 2015, and catching up with inflation. Policymakers may conclude that this strengthens the case for a rate hike soon, rather than risk waiting too long.
This chart, from Berenberg bank, suggests the labour market is recovering from the Brexit shock of 2016, which drove real wages down.
Kallum Pickering of Berenberg explains:
Thanks to the drop in headline inflation to 2.7% in February (3.0% in January), and the uptick in nominal weekly earnings to 2.8% in January (up from 1.9% in May 2017), the real wage squeeze is probably over.
Tight labour markets should push nominal wage growth higher over the medium term as inflation gradually trends towards a rate of about 2-2.5%. Real weekly earnings growth can rise towards 1.0% by the end of the 2018.
Helped by continued jobs growth, this should allow real consumption to grow at close to 1.5% over the medium term.
The minutes of the meeting, released at noon, will give an insight into the MPC’s thinking.
Last night, the US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate to 1.75%, and lifted its growth forecast. It also predicted two more rate hikes this year, and three in 2019, as the process of normalising monetary policy continues under new Fed chair Jerome Powell.
Powell sounded upbeat about the US economy, but also warned that fears of a trade war are building.
We also get a new healthcheck on eurozone service sector firms and factories, fresh UK retail sales figures, and the weekly US jobless claims numbers.
Here’s the agenda
9am GMT: Eurozone ‘flash’ PMI surveys showing how companies are faring this month
9.30am GMT: UK retail sales figures for February
Noon GMT: Bank of England decision on interest rates
12.30pm GMT: US initial jobless claims for last week