LONDON REPORT
ALL eyes this week will be on the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which is on Thursday expected to inject another £50bn into the British economy.
The decision is likely to be influenced by last week’s news that the double-dip recession is deeper than first thought. The Office for National Statistics said the economy shrank by 0.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011, worse than the initial report of 0.3 per cent.
If the MPC decides on the £50bn quantitative easing, it would take the total QE figure to £375bn.
Today sees economic news in the form of manufacturing PMI data, as well as the Bank of England annual report.
The Real Good Food Co gives full-year results tomorrow and there will be updates from St Modwen Properties and Persimmon. Construction and Bank of England mortgage data and the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) quarterly economic are also set to be released.
On Wednesday Topps Tiles will update the market, along with Carillion and Tullow Oil. International Greetings will also give full-year results.
Services data and the Bank of England housing equity withdrawal data will provide economic news.
Thursday is set to be a busy day for the City, dominated by the MPC’s decision on QE and the Bank of England interest rate.
Last week Bank chief Sir Mervyn King told a Treasury Select Committee hearing that the MPC had not ruled out a further interest cut below 0.5 per cent, although that move could risk squeezing building societies too hard.
He also hinted the MPC stood ready to pump extra cash into the economy. Minutes of the June rates meeting revealed four of the nine-strong MPC – including Sir Mervyn – were narrowly outvoted on expanding QE above the current level.
Begbies Traynor Group will give its full-year results and Caledonia Investments, Dunelm Group and Robert Walters are all set to give trading updates.
Babcock International Group, Great Portland Estates and Vianet are due to hold annual general meetings and MoneySupermarket.Com will hold a meeting about its proposed acquisition of MoneySavingExpert.com from Martin Lewis.