Bank minutes to show appetite for QE as public borrowing is revealed
MINUTES from the Bank of England’s November monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting will this week give further clues about the appetite for further quantitative easing (QE) and the extent to which the recent rise in inflation has affected the committee’s decision making.
The release is due out on Wednesday, along with public sector net borrowing figures.
Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight, said: “Sir Mervyn King indicated at the Inflation Report press conference that the worsened inflation outlook was a prime factor, but it will be interesting to see just how worried the MPC were over the growth outlook and how they see the Funding for Lending Scheme developing and what hopes they have for it over the coming months.”
Other economic news this week will include Rightmove House Prices for November, which show a further slump in asking prices, and CBI industrial trends data, due to be released on Thursday.
In corporate news, Majestic Wine, Mitie Group and Ruspetro will all update the market today. Tomorrow sees final reports from Enterprise Inns and easyJet, whose shares have been in the ascent over the year. Big Yellow Group, British Land and Homeserve will also give interim results.
On Wednesday contract group Compass Group will give investors food for thought with its year-end figures, while Halfords, Intermediate Capital Group, QinetiQ and UK Mail Group will also report.
On Thursday Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), Mothercare and SABMiller are all set to update the market.