Look Ahead 21/9/23: BoE rate decision; US jobless claims; EZ consumer confidence; Next

(Video Transcript)

Data shows inflation pressures returning

Hello, I'm Angeline Ong and welcome to your Look Ahead to Thursday, 21 September 202.

Now, swiftly after the Federal Reserve, the UK is the next country that is under the interest rate spotlight. We've got the Bank of England (BoE) interest rate decision, of course, and the public sector net borrowing figures to boot.

Let's just have a look at the pound versus the US dollar table here. England's high inflation rate has, you know, unexpectedly slowed, and this is now raising hopes of a pause in the BoE's long run of interest rate hikes in the coming session.

The pound fell as investors saw a nearly 50-50 chance of rates staying on hold at the meeting in the coming session due to these numbers. It remains to be seen whether or not we'll get a surprise from the BoE because I can tell you that recent data points have shown that interest, or rather inflation pressures, are returning.

Fed expected to keep rates unchanged

Moving swiftly on, we've also got US initial jobless claims and existing home sales numbers as well. This will be after the Fed's much-anticipated rate decision and also the press conference that follows it, certainly the US 500, because this is a view ahead of the Fed's meeting.

They are expected to leave interest rates unchanged. However, investors are more focused on the dot plot and the release of new forecasts, and what they unveil will basically drive the trajectory of markets.

And to the eurozone, where we have consumer confidence numbers, these are the flash numbers as well that will give us some insight into how the consumer is feeling after two years of a cost-of-living crisis.

Reiss group less-affected by cost-of-living crisis

And dovetailing nicely from that, we've also got retail figures out from Nexts first-half numbers. Nex, on Friday, said that it had reached a deal to raise its stake in upmarket fashion chain Reiss Group to 72% from 51%.

This is after it teamed up with the Reiss family to buy at Warburg Pinchas's shares for £128 million. Next, though, has been one of the less-affected retailers amid the cost-of-living crisis, and those shares, as you can see, they're mirroring this as well. It's had a steady climb from around May 23.

And that's it for now. For more market-moving news, I'll be back on Beat the Street at 1.30pm London time to give you a heads-up to US trading day, and Angela Barnes will be on deck at 7.30am on Early Morning Call ahead of the European market open. Follow me on Twitter at Angeline Ong. This is IGTV.