BOE minutes preview

The Bank of England (BOE) will hold its monetary policy meeting and publish its minutes at 1145 GMT. The events will be followed by the usual press conference by Governor Mark Carney.

It’s widely expected that the BOE will make no adjustments to its monetary policy settings, leaving the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.50%, after the first rate hike in a decade last month to contain the rise in inflation. 

At the last meeting, the BOE Chief Carney said that the rates would "gently" rise as inflation eases in the foreseeable future. The UK Nov inflation figures showed an annual reading at 3.1%, having eased slightly from 3.2% seen in October.

Despite easing price pressures, the BOE policymakers are expected to show their cautiousness on their rate hike outlook, given the economic uncertainty surrounding Brexit, due to take place in March 2019. 

Key Notes

GBP/USD spikes to fresh session tops on upbeat UK retail sales, BOE next

Having posted a session low near the 1.3365 region, the GBP/USD pair regained traction and spiked to mid-1.3400s post-UK retail sales.

BoE: Silent nights ahead - TDS

“There has been little data to chew on since their November rate hike meeting, and the MPC seems comfortable standing to the side while the Brexit sideshow progresses.”

BoE: Considerable risks? - Rabobank

Jane Foley, Senior FX Strategist at Rabobank, explains that in line with their view, November’s Bank of England 25 bps rate increase was taken by the market as a dovish hike.