LONDON (Reuters) – Market expectations of an interest rate hike by the Bank of England this year dipped further after inflation fell to a two-year low in January.
Consumer prices rose at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in January after a 2.1 percent increase in December, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday. The figure is below a BOE target of 2 percent.
Swap markets moved expectations of a 25 basis point rate hike down by a notch to 30 percent from around 40 percent on Tuesday. The central bank last raised interest rates by a quarter point to 0.75 percent in August 2018.
Reporting by Sujata Rao; Editing by Tom Finn