2 down, 1 to go ...
STOXX 600 up 0.5%
SNB cuts rates, Norway holds
BoE up next
Wall St futures higher
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2 DOWN, 1 TO GO ...
As two of the three big central bank decisions from Europe are out of the way, markets are now turning attention to the Bank of England, which is more likely to echo what has been seen from Norway rather than Switzerland on Thursday.
The Norges Bank kept rates unchanged, while Switzerland lowered borrowing costs for the second straight meeting, cementing its place as the most dovish of the major central banks.
For the BoE, inflation data on Wednesday firmed up expectations that they will refrain from cutting rates today and also saw markets trim their expectations for a cut in August.
"Ultimately, in a mildly improving economic environment with consumer confidence now picking up from low levels, the central scenario looks likely to be that inflation drifts higher through the remainder of the year," says Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter Investors.
"With the Bank of England having previously emphasised the requirement for inflation to return to 2% sustainably, the evidence is not yet there that it has done that, and may not be for some months yet."
ING, however, is more confident that a rate cut could come in August, and with markets only assigning around a one-in-three chance of a move, they believe there is room for a repricing.
"In short, we think it will lay the groundwork for an August rate cut," ING's head of research Chris Turner says about today's meeting.
"We therefore think sterling gets hit today."
(Samuel Indyk)
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THURSDAY'S OTHER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:
YEN CARRY TRADE COULD STOP RISING IN Q2 2025 - BARCLAYS CLICK HERE
EUROPEAN EQUITIES HIGHER, SNB GIVES SWISS STOCKS A BOOST CLICK HERE
STOCK FUTURES WARILY HIGHER BEFORE CENTRAL BANK BONANZA CLICK HERE
BAILEY LIKELY TO BAIL ON RATE CHANGE CLICK HERE
UK inflation returns to target for first time since 2021 https://reut.rs/3RWGXrp
European shares a sea of green https://reut.rs/4evbR3y
Barclaysyen https://tmsnrt.rs/45utmgl
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