Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 slips into the red as Bank of England lifts rates
- Rolls-Royce (LON:RR) falls, no news on New Markets disappoints
- ITV (LON:ITV) slips as predicts further fall in advertising revenue
Bank of England increases interest rates by 25bp to 4.5%
The Bank of England has increased interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.5%.
The widely expected move is the 12th consecutive rise by the UK central bank and leaves interest rates at their highest level since 2008 as the battle to tame double digit inflation continues.
The Monetary Policy Committee voted 7-2 in favour of the latest increase.
FTSE slightly higher ahead of rate decision, pound weaker
Ahead of the interest rate decision and the FTSE 100 is up 5 points while the pound has fallen 0.4% to $1.2569.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment, interactive investor said: "The Bank of England is widely expected to raise interest rates by a further 25-basis points at lunchtime today."
"This would lift the bank rate to 4.5%, the highest level since 2008, marking the twelfth consecutive rate increase."
"The central bank is also expected to upgrade its economic growth forecasts for this year as the risk of recession subsides. However it is also expected to raise its inflation forecasts for the year."
"The outlook for interest rates beyond today is less clear with the Bank of England likely to be closely guided by the speed at which the inflation data improves."
UK consumer confidence improves in April
UK consumer morale has improved in April following a brief dip into negativity in March, according to YouGov (LON:YOU) and the Centre for Economics and Business Research.
Their latest consumer confidence index jumped by 1.9 points this month, from 99.4 to 101.3 (where a reading over 100 shows a positive score) as people’s view of their household finances improved, as did meaasures of job security and business activity.
The report said: "The most significant jumps were in household finance metrics: those tracking perceptions over the past 30 days jumped from 69.6 to 73.8 (+4.2), while outlook rose even higher, from 70.9 to 75.5 (+4.6)."
"These are still overall negative scores, but represent a meaningful improvement compared to a year ago, when measures for the past 30 days plummeted to 56.7 and 48.3 respectively."
"The cost-of-living crisis continues to impact households, but sentiment towards household finances has been gradually improving over the past six months."