Yahoo Finance What to Watch: Bank of England rates, EU top jobs, Tory leadership
Here are the top business, market, and economic stories you should be watching today in the UK, Europe, and abroad:
The Bank of England’s interest rates decision
At noon (BST), the Bank of England will publish the minutes of its latest Monetary Policy Committee meeting and its decision on interest rates. The bank is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, even though it may try to convince investors that rate hikes are around the corner.
But analysts think hikes are unlikely until there is a resolution to the seemingly never-ending Brexit debacle.
The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday opened the door to a rate cut in 2019, noting that it had to “act as appropriate” to sustain economic growth.
That followed suggestions on Monday by European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi that his bank could expand its stimulus programme.
The big week for central banking continues “in theory” with the Bank of England’s Thursday decision, said Connor Campbell, an analyst with Spreadex, in a note.
“In practice it might be a bit bland in comparison with what has been produced by its US and Eurozone peers. Mark Carney and co’s hands are still tied by Brexit.”
Tories decide on the final two
The four remaining candidates in the Conservative Party leadership contest — Boris Johnson, Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove, and Sajid Javid — will be whittled down to the final two on Thursday.
Boris Johnson is all but guaranteed to come out on top once again. On Wednesday, only a handful of votes separated Hunt and Gove, meaning that the battle for second place seems like a wide open contest.
The contest has now very much taken a hard Brexit direction. Nevertheless, the pound made some gains on Wednesday, reaching $1.27 against the dollar. It was up further in early trading, by 0.6% against the dollar (GBPUSD=X) and by 0.02% against the euro (GBPEUR=X).
“Brexit is keeping the lid on sterling’s gains – the prospect of Boris Johnson taking Britain out of the EU come 31 October is a risk,” said Neil Wilson, an analyst with Markets.com.
Australia’s Resolute Mining lists in London
Australia’s Resolute Mining (RSG.L) began trading on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday — part of its ambition to attract a broader base of investors and become a pan-African gold producer.
It comes at a time when new entrants to the London Stock Exchange are few and far between, mainly as a result of Brexit-related uncertainty.
Gold prices spiked in early trading on Thursday following the US Federal Reserve’s latest pronouncements.
Spot gold prices climbed to levels not seen in five years, while gold futures hit $1,385.30 per ounce (GC=F).
Dixons Carphone reported a steep profit decline
The UK’s largest seller of electrical products and mobile phones, Dixons Carphone (DC.L), reported on Thursday that pre-tax profits had slumped 22% to £298m.
It said that profits would fall further in its 2020 financial year, to £210m.
CEO Alex Baldock said the UK mobile market was changing faster that it expected, but that it had renegotiated its legacy network contracts and that it was developing new customer offers and accelerating the integration of its business.
Shares in the company declined 18% on Thursday.
European markets climbed
Stocks in Europe followed their peers in Asia, with the Federal Reserve’s dovish stance having a knock-on effect across global markets.
The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) jumped by 0.19% in early trading. Germany’s DAX (^GDAXI) made bigger gains, of 0.78%, while France’s CAC 40 (^FCHI) climbed by 0.60%.
What to expect in the US
Slack, the makers of the workplace chat application, debuts on the New York Stock Exchange with a direct listing. Shares will start trading at $26 per share.
US stock futures are pointing to a higher open.
S&P 500 futures (ES=F) are up 0.6%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) are up by 0.52%, and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) are up by 0.96%.
