The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics make a rate hike from the BoE highly likely before Christmas, especially since it comes right after strong employment data. The number of employees on UK company payrolls progressed by 160,000 to 29.3 million in October.

Source: Statista

The pound surged to levels not seen since February 2020 against the euro, and the FTSE 100 is down 0.3% this morning. This is despite strong results from several companies including credit checking firm Experian, which posted an increase in pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2022 and said that it expects to book significant full-year revenue growth.

Meanwhile, Sage reported a profit drop due to increased investment. Operating profits for the year to September 30 fell 8% to £373 million and revenues decreased 3% to £1.85 billion.

 

Things to read today:

Fed policy must adjust for inflation (Financial Times)

U.K. Urges EU Not to Start Trade War If Brexit Deal Suspended (Bloomberg)