Sterling firm ahead of BOE policy decision

Sterling is steady against the euro and the dollar, at 84p and $1.29 respectively, ahead of today’s monetary policy decision from the Bank of England’s MPC.  With inflation having moved above the 2% target but the pace of economic growth slowing, the MPC is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.25%, though there may be one or two voting dissents in favour of an immediate rate increase. More important, perhaps, will be what signal the MPC sends about the outlook for rates over the coming months

Elsewhere in the markets, the euro continues to trade just below $1.09 against the dollar, while US bond yields continue to nudge higher. Both US and European equities, meanwhile, were little changed yesterday

The latest RICS housing survey in the UK shows ‘new buyer enquiries’ weakened in April. This follows separate pieces of data recently showing a fall in house price in April (the second in a row) and a decline in mortgage approvals in March

With less than a month to the ECB’s next policy meeting, Mario Draghi  is holding firm on its policy stance, reiterating that maintaining the current very substantial degree of monetary stimulus ‘is still needed for underlying inflation pressures to build up and support headline inflation in the medium term’

Data due today includes industrial production in the UK and jobless claims in the US