- Wall Street stocks hit fresh records as oil prices slide
- Strike-hit Boeing leaves experts puzzled by strategy
- NASA launches probe to study if life possible on icy Jupiter moon
- EVs seek to regain sales momentum at Paris Motor Show
- NASA probe Europa Clipper lifts off for Jupiter's icy moon
- 'Unsustainable' housing crisis bedevils Spain's socialist govt
- Stocks shrug off China disappointment but oil slides
- Stocks diverge, oil retreats as China disappoints markets
- Trio wins economics Nobel for work on wealth inequality
- Ex-Stasi officer jailed over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as markets rally
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as Asian markets rally
- Nearly 90, but opera legend Kabaivanska is still calling tune
- With inflation down, ECB eyes faster tempo of rate cuts
- Is life possible on a Jupiter moon? NASA goes to investigate
- Ex-Stasi officer faces verdict over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Role of government, poverty research tipped for economics Nobel
- In milestone, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- In a first, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Bangladeshi Hindus shrug off attack worries to celebrate festival
- Ubisoft fears assassin's hit over falling sales
- Vietnam, China hold talks on calming South China Sea tensions
- SpaceX will try to 'catch' giant Starship rocket shortly before landing
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgery: reports
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgey: reports
- 'Little Gregory' murder haunts France 40 years on
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Stock markets diverge before China weekend briefing
- EU questions shopping app Temu over illegal products risk
- Han Kang's books sell out in South Korea after Nobel win
- Shanghai markets sink ahead of briefing on mixed day for Asia
BoE hikes rate half-point as high inflation persists
The Bank of England Thursday lifted its key interest rate by a half-point to five percent to tackle stubbornly high UK inflation despite such a move worsening a cost-of-living crisis.
The higher-than-expected hike to a 15-year high was the 13th increase in a row.
"There had been significant upside news in recent data that indicated more persistence in the inflation process," the Bank of England (BoE) said minutes from the regular policy meeting.
The decision came one day after data showed UK annual inflation remained at 8.7 percent in May, defying expectations of a slowdown.
The UK inflation rate is the highest among G7 rich nations.
Prior to the data, markets had expected a smaller quarter-point increase.
A half-point hike was in stark contrast to the Federal Reserve, which last week pressed pause on US rate hikes after a sharp easing in the country's inflation.
The European Central Bank last week raised its borrowing costs by a quarter point.
The Swiss and Norwegian central banks hiked their rates on Thursday.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made slashing the pace of price rises a priority for his Conservative government as it heads into a general election next year.
Traders anticipate UK interest rates will hit six percent by the end of the year, likely pushing Britain into recession.
Sunak wants inflation reduced to five percent by the end of the year, or about half the level at the start of 2023.
The BoE began lifting its key interest rate from a record low of 0.1 percent at the end of 2021, with inflation starting to creep up as economies slowly emerged from lockdowns.
UK inflation went on to strike a 41-year peak at 11.1 percent in October on rampant energy bills, after major oil and gas producer Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022.
Core inflation, which strips out food and energy costs, spiked in May to 7.1 percent -- the highest in more than three decades.
Two of the bank's nine policymakers voted Thursday for no change, arguing that "the energy price shock and other global cost-push shocks" such as surging food prices would continue to reverse this year.
Governor Andrew Bailey voted for the hike.
- Housing turmoil -
Commercial lenders tend to match the central bank's rate moves on their home loans.
As a result, UK mortgage rates and rents are surging, biting deep into disposable incomes while pay rises fail to keep pace with inflation.
The BoE Thursday said that the "full impact" of its 13 rate rises "would not be felt for some time" in the mortgage market.
Policymakers "also recognised that it had become more important to consider developments in the rental market".
The BoE hikes have also sent the UK government's long-term borrowing costs soaring.
The central bank is tasked by the government to keep UK annual inflation close to a target of two percent.
Thursday's move brings the BoE rate to the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis.
burs-rfj/bcp/rl
P.Gonzales--CPN