Sterling tumbled on Thursday after the Bank of England opted to keep interest rates on hold and revised down growth forecasts amid a flurry of data confirming the economy is stalling. Sterling tumbled on Thursday after the Bank of England opted to keep interest rates on hold and revised down growth forecasts amid a flurry of data confirming the economy is stalling. The move represented a u-turn from Threadneedle Street, which had until recently been signalling a hike was on the cards. Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, said: “A weaker inflation report from the Bank of England coupled with soft UK data sucked any remaining optimism out of pound traders, sending sterling tumbling against the dollar. As the pound tumbled the FTSE 100 went in the opposite direction, ending the day well up, rising 0.5%, or 38.45 points to a three month high of 7,700.97.

Source: Irish Independent May 10, 2018 16:41 UTC