- Rally in oil prices loses steam on mixed day for global stocks
- South America treated to rare 'ring of fire' eclipse
- Biden official says port strike deal not as far as parties think
- Mexico's new president offers apology for 1968 student massacre
- Historic funding round values OpenAI at $157 billion
- Mixed US car sales in Q3 as industry hopes for post-election bounce
- Thunderstorms are a 'boiling pot' of gamma rays, scientists find
- Scientists unlock secret of 'Girl With Pearl Earring'
- Dolphins flash friendly grins when they're ready to play
- Facing backlash, EU moves to delay deforestation rules
- US private sector adds more jobs than expected in September: ADP
- Boys out of critical condition after Zurich stabbings
- Spain logs record summer tourism as inflow draws protests
- Hedi Slimane quits as Celine's artistic director
- Oil prices extend rally on Iran attack
- Spain welcomed record number of tourists this summer
- France says coming tax hikes on the wealthy to be 'temporary'
- Why are Thailand's roads so deadly?
- Oracle to invest $6.5 bn in Malaysian cloud services region
- Parkrun marks 20 years of a free weekly jog, run... or walk
- Oil extends rally after Iran attack, Hong Kong soars again
- Prostitutes, prospectors drive spread in DR Congo mpox capital
- Oil extends rally after Iran attack, Hong Kong resumes surge
- Extreme heat another form of death sentence in Texas jails
- Can music help plants grow? Study suggests sound boosts fungus
- Nike earnings drop, says turnaround will take time
- US dockworkers launch mass strike a month before election
- Iron Dome: Israel's key anti-missile shield
- Cranes stand still as US dockworkers fight for 'future'
- GM reports US sales dip, but says EVs grew
- Sheinbaum takes office as Mexico's first woman president
- Webb telescope detects carbon dioxide on Pluto's largest moon
- Stock markets slump, oil jumps on Middle East concerns
- French PM vows more taxes and spending cuts ahead of budget fight
- Germany inaugurates IBM's first European quantum data centre
- Stock markets diverge as eurozone inflation drops further
- France's richest man takes control of Paris Match magazine
- Anger meets tear gas as Nigeria hardship protests fizzle out
- US dockworkers launch mass strike month before election
- Evacuations from Lebanon: what we know
- Feathers fly at Chanel's Paris fashion return
- UAE oil giant ADNOC swoops on German chemicals firm Covestro
- Eurozone inflation falls under 2% for first time since 2021
- Coldplay ticket scalping fiasco sparks backlash in India
- Droughts drive Spanish boom in pistachio farming
- Tokyo recovers some losses to lead Asian markets higher
- Rural schools empty in North Macedonia due to exodus
- US dockworkers launch strike after labor contract expires
- Thousands evacuated as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan
- Kenya airport whistleblower fears for his life
RBGPF | -2.18% | 59.5 | $ | |
BCC | -1.33% | 139.53 | $ | |
SCS | -2.56% | 12.87 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.04% | 24.93 | $ | |
NGG | -1.85% | 68.78 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.04% | 24.78 | $ | |
BCE | -1.13% | 34.44 | $ | |
JRI | -1.12% | 13.38 | $ | |
RIO | -0.48% | 70.82 | $ | |
GSK | -2.15% | 39.45 | $ | |
RELX | -0.11% | 47.29 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.43% | 6.9 | $ | |
BTI | -1.33% | 35.97 | $ | |
BP | 0.86% | 32.37 | $ | |
VOD | -2.16% | 9.74 | $ | |
AZN | 1.14% | 79.58 | $ |
BoE unveils fifth rate hike in row as inflation soars
The Bank of England on Thursday hiked its main interest rate for a fifth straight time, as it forecast British inflation to soar further this year to above 11 percent.
BoE policymakers agreed at a regular meeting to increase the cost of borrowing by a quarter-point to 1.25 percent, the highest level since the global financial crisis in 2009.
The pound slumped one percent against the dollar following the announcement, one day after the Federal Reserve hiked US interest rates far more aggressively to fight runaway consumer prices in the world's biggest economy.
The BoE's latest rise was in response to "continuing signs of robust cost and price pressures... and the risk that those pressures become more persistent", said minutes of the UK meeting.
A minority of BoE policymakers had voted for an increase to 1.5 percent.
The Bank of England is avoiding "shock and awe tactics being employed across the Atlantic", said Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell.
"Despite the UK starting to tighten monetary policy first, interest rates are now higher in the US."
The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced the most aggressive interest rate increase in nearly 30 years -- and said it is prepared to do so again next month in an all-out battle to drive down surging consumer prices.
The Fed's rate hike of 0.75 percentage points comes after US inflation rocketed to 8.6 percent in May, the highest level in more than four decades.
In the UK, inflation stands at nine percent, the highest level in 40 years.
Prices are soaring worldwide as economies reopen from pandemic lockdowns and in the wake of the Ukraine war that is pushing already high energy costs even higher.
- Growth impact -
British economic output declined for a second month in a row in April, weighed down by rocketing prices that are causing a cost-of-living crisis for millions of Britons, while increasing the risk of a UK recession this year.
Data this week also revealed the first rise in the UK unemployment rate since the end of 2020 -- although at 3.8 percent it remains at a near 50-year low point amid record-high job vacancies.
At the same time, the value of average UK wages is falling at the fastest pace in more than a decade.
Fearing fallout from surging inflation, the BoE began to raise its key interest rate in December, from a record-low level of 0.1 percent.
Almost two years earlier, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to take hold, the BoE slashed the rate to just above zero and decided to pump massive sums of new cash into the economy.
In the neighbouring eurozone, the European Central Bank is next month set to raise interest rates for the first time in more than a decade.
Switzerland's central bank hiked its rate Thursday for the first time in 15 years.
burs-bcp/rfj/lth
Y.Jeong--CPN