Events that marked the week:
Tuesday brought UK Industrial Production data. Total production output is estimated to have decreased by 0.7% between October 2015 and November 2015. Analysts were anticipating no change. There were decreases in all of the main sectors, with manufacturing, mining & quarrying and electricity & gas having the largest contributions to the decrease. Manufacturing output decreased by 0.4% in November 2015 compared with October 2015. The largest contribution to the decrease came from the manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products & pharmaceutical preparations, which decreased by 4.9%.
Thursday's session was marked by BoE
interest rate decision and the following Minutes. The Bank of England kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged and announced no change to its asset purchase facility program, it said on Thursday.
The BOE said it was holding the benchmark interest rate at 0.50%, in a widely expected move. The rate has been held at that level since March 2009. The
central bank also said it was to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £375 billion.
Minutes from the central bank's policy meeting showed that eight members were in favor of leaving the key interest rate at a record low of 0.5%, in line with expectations and unchanged from the previous meeting. Dissenting member Ian McCafferty voted for a 0.25% hike in the benchmark rate to 0.75% for the fifth consecutive month. All nine members were in favor of making no changes to the central bank's £375 billion asset-purchase program. According to the minutes, rates are expected to rise gradually but to lower levels than previous cycles. The majority of policymakers said the expected pickup in inflation would be “a little more modest than previously assumed.”
Next week markets will be looking at:
CPI/PPI (Tuesday 10:30)
Claimant Count Change/Unemployment Rate (Wednesday 10:30)
Retail Sales (Friday 10:30)
Public Sector Net Borrowing (Friday 10:30)
