Sterling set for biggest weekly gain since 2009 after BoE rate hold
Equity markets down in morning trading
The pound is set to see its biggest weekly gain since 2009, up 3.2% against the dollar since Monday, following the Bank of England’s decision to hold rates at 0.5% this month.
Despite climbing by as much as 0.7% against the greenback overnight, sterling has stumbled this morning, and is now up just 0.1% against the dollar at $1.3357, but is still on track for its largest weekly gain.
The rally in the pound follows the Bank of England’s decision to hold interest rates at 0.5% yesterday. Sterling leapt by 0.65% to $1.3232 against the dollar following the announcement, before later reaching a two-week high of $1.3306.
The decision wrong-footed investors, who had widely expected governor Mark Carney to announce a 25 basis point rate cut or a raft of monetary easing measures.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 was down 0.3% in morning trading today at 6,632 points, as travel stocks fell following an alleged terrorist attack in Nice last night.
Easyjet fell 3.8% to £11.27 following the attack, while miners Fresnillo and Randgold Resources were down 4% and 2.6% respectively.
The biggest gains came from RBS, which was up 1.5% to 184p, while the London Stock Exchange group rose 1.3% to £26.73 following progress in its merger deal with Deutsche Borse.
Source: Investment Week
