Business

Update: shortly after he took credit for the record stock market and business enthusiasm, Trump - accurately - blamed Congress for the current "very dangerous" relationship with Russia, when he tweeted that"Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low. You can thank Congress, the same people that can't even give us HCare!"

Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low. You can thank Congress, the same people that can't even give us HCare!

The whispers about a potential rate hike by the recently hawkish BOE ended up being wrong, when moments ago the Bank of England announced that in a 6-2 decision it kept rates unchanged at 0.25%, largely as expected. Saunders and McCafferty dissented in favor of an immediate interest-rate increase, with Haldane refusing to join the dissenters.

In separate unanimous decisions, the central bank also kept its bond purchase programs unchanged at GBP10BN and GBP435BN for corporate and government bonds respectively.

E-mini futures are fractionally lower this morning (0.08%) after Apple's surge helped the DJIA climb above 22,000 for the first time on Wednesday; Global shares declined for the first time in 4 days pressured by tech stocks: Asian shares fell, while Europe pared opening losses to trade unchanged.

Submitted by Rajan Dhall from fxdaily.co.uk

All eyes are now on the midday announcement from the BoE, where a 25bp rate rise is only expected by a very few, but more anticipating signals that a move is forthcoming later this year.

The vote split will tell is whether Haldane - or anyone else - has moved to the hawkish camp, but with Forbes having left the commitee, a 6-2 split is also likely.  Comments from Messrs McCafferty and Saunders suggest there is little or no chance that they have changed their stance from the previous meeting.

The small of trade war between China and the US is becoming ever more rancid.

In the latest development, this morning we reported that the Trump administration is planning a probe of what the U.S. sees as violations of intellectual property by China. Against a backdrop of Trump’s frustrations with domestic policy, sliding approval ratings and disagreement with China over North Korea, the chances of protectionist action are rising according to Bloomberg while CNBC adds that the official start date of the trade war will be this Friday.