The Bank of England is on the radar for investors next week as the central bank slowly moves towards raising interest rates from their record-low level due to a spike on inflation. London's FTSE 100 index rose 1.85 percent over the past week to finish at 6,009.92 points on Friday, back above the key 6,000 points level.
It ended the first quarter Thursday with a modest gain of 0.14 percent. Most economists predict that the Bank of England will Thursday keep its key lending rate at a record-low level of 0.50 percent, where it has stood since March 2009, owing to Britain's weak economic recovery.
However, the central bank's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee is aware of the need to rein in high inflation. British inflation jumped to 4.4 percent in February, the highest level for more than two years and compared with 4.0 percent in January.
The central bank's main task is to keep annual inflation close to a government-set target level of 2.0 percent. Elsewhere next week, amid a dearth of company earnings news, traders will examine key data including British industrial production and house prices.
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