BOE on hold again today

There’s not much change in the main exchange rates this morning, with the euro continuing to trade below the $1.14 level against the dollar and sterling at about 88p and $1.29 against the euro and the dollar respectively ahead of the Bank of England’s latest monetary policy announcement at noon today

Bond yields in the core markets continue to edge down with equities flat to slightly lower yesterday and set to open weaker in Europe this morning. US 10-year bond yields are below 2.70% again, with equivalent UK and German yields at 1.20% and 0.15% respectively

The Bank of England will keep interest rates in the UK unchanged again today amid continued heightened Brexit uncertainty. It has said that if there is a “smooth transition” to a new EU-UK trading relationship, then a further gradual but limited increase in rates will be appropriate. If there’s a disorderly (i.e. no deal) exit,  the BOE has said then all bets are off – it could hike or cut rates depending on the balance between a weaker economy on the one hand, and higher inflation in response to sharp fall in the pound on the other

The European Commission also publishes its latest economic forecasts today, with the only question being by how much it will revise down its forecast for GDP growth in the Euro area from the projection it made back in November. The latter was 1.9%, which is a good bit above the latest Bloomberg consensus forecast of 1.4%

Data due today include Halfax house prices in the UK and jobless claims in the US