• 287 days Will The ECB Continue To Hike Rates?
  • 287 days Forbes: Aramco Remains Largest Company In The Middle East
  • 289 days Caltech Scientists Succesfully Beam Back Solar Power From Space
  • 689 days Could Crypto Overtake Traditional Investment?
  • 694 days Americans Still Quitting Jobs At Record Pace
  • 696 days FinTech Startups Tapping VC Money for ‘Immigrant Banking’
  • 699 days Is The Dollar Too Strong?
  • 699 days Big Tech Disappoints Investors on Earnings Calls
  • 700 days Fear And Celebration On Twitter as Musk Takes The Reins
  • 702 days China Is Quietly Trying To Distance Itself From Russia
  • 702 days Tech and Internet Giants’ Earnings In Focus After Netflix’s Stinker
  • 706 days Crypto Investors Won Big In 2021
  • 706 days The ‘Metaverse’ Economy Could be Worth $13 Trillion By 2030
  • 707 days Food Prices Are Skyrocketing As Putin’s War Persists
  • 709 days Pentagon Resignations Illustrate Our ‘Commercial’ Defense Dilemma
  • 710 days US Banks Shrug off Nearly $15 Billion In Russian Write-Offs
  • 713 days Cannabis Stocks in Holding Pattern Despite Positive Momentum
  • 714 days Is Musk A Bastion Of Free Speech Or Will His Absolutist Stance Backfire?
  • 714 days Two ETFs That Could Hedge Against Extreme Market Volatility
  • 716 days Are NFTs About To Take Over Gaming?
  1. Home
  2. Markets
  3. Other

UK Data Confirm BoE's Wait-And-See Stance

Today's bevy of data releases on consumption and demand confirm that interest rates are unlikely to shift anytime soon, and may even be on hold into 2007.

The Confederation of British Industry retail sales report showed sales volume picking up fast in May, and set to accelerate further next month thanks to the quadrennial World Cup. The monthly sales balance climbed to +9 from +2 in April, the highest level since December 2004.

However, the GfK consumer confidence index unexpectedly fell back from -4 in April to -5 in May as Britons reportedly became more pessimistic about their personal finances, and increasingly reluctant to make major purchases.

The Bank of England's April report on consumer credit showed that the number of mortgage approvals fell to 106,000, down from 114,000 in March and the lowest in seven months. This could be a sign that the recent up-tick in the market is already running out of steam. (Last week, the British Bankers' Association reported that the number of approvals for home purchases in April posted the first annual fall for nine months.) Consumer credit rose 7.3% on the year, down from 7.6% in March and the weakest rise since March 1994.

The latest house price survey from Nationwide (the second-largest mortgage lender) reported that prices rose just 0.2% on the month and 4.7% on the year in May, versus 0.1% and 4.8% in April. Nationwide concluded that cooling demand for housing as well as rising interest rate expectations in the financial markets, may dampen property price inflation in coming months.

Manufacturing PMI for May will be released tomorrow (June 1); next week brings April industrial and manufacturing production and the latest BoE rates decision (all on June 8); May inflation data is set for release June 13; May unemployment on June 14; and the minutes of the upcoming BoE meeting will be released June 21.

 

Back to homepage

Leave a comment

Leave a comment