The Bank of England (BoE) surprised sterling investors on Thursday by not raising interest rates. “That was a massive own goal,” criticized investment strategist Michael Hewson from brokerage firm CMC Markets. After all, the British central bank has signaled an increase in the past few weeks. BoE boss Andrew Bailey missed the chance to restore the battered confidence in his house. In response to the interest rate decision, the pound sterling fell 1.4 percent to $ 1.3491 and 0.9 percent to 1.1679 euros. In contrast, investors took advantage of British government bonds. This pushed the return on ten-year stocks down to 0.948 percent. In their slipstream, their German counterparts yielded minus 0.223 percent, after minus 0.167 percent the previous day.
In relation to the dollar, the euro fell to 1.1541 dollars. The day before, the common currency had risen above the $ 1.16 mark after the US Federal Reserve began to phase out its billion-dollar asset purchases. The Fed wants to take its time with rate hikes, confirmed central bank chief Jerome Powell. As a result, the dollar came under pressure.
Meanwhile, the oil price went on a roller coaster ride. On the one hand, “Opec +”, which also includes other producing countries such as Russia, is not giving in to international pressure for a more rapid expansion of production and is further increasing its quotas by 400,000 barrels a day. On the other hand, the Al Arabiya broadcaster reported that Saudi Arabia’s oil production will exceed ten million barrels a day for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The Brent variety from the North Sea initially rose in price by three percent to $ 84.49 per barrel, in the evening the price slipped 1.7 percent into the red to $ 80.63.