Interest Rate Decisions: Bank Of England Holds Firm, Swiss National Bank Reduces Further — Will Fed Cut In September?

UK-related exchange-traded funds ticked up in Thursday’s early-morning trading as the Bank of England decided to keep rates steady, while the Swiss National Bank cut its key rate.

iShares MSC United Kingdom ETF EWU edged up 0.66% by mid-morning trading on Thursday, while Franklin FTSE United Kingdom ETF FLGB rose 0.7%.

Meanwhile, First Trust United Kingdom AlphaDEX Fund FKU picked up 0.57% at the time of publication Thursday.

England’s central bank preserved its key rate at a 16-year high of 5.25%, where it has been since August 2023, CNBC reported.

Seven members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep the rate the same, while two members were in favor of cutting it by 25 basis points.

The MPC said inflation had hit the central bank's target and said indicators of "short-term inflation expectations" and wage growth had eased.

It also said it was "very difficult to gauge the evolution of labour market activity" because of uncertainty around estimates from the Office for National Statistics.

Also read: Switzerland To The Rescue: Swiss National Bank, FINMA Ready To Provide Liquidity Support For Credit Suisse

The central bank's decision to hold comes just two weeks out from a general election, in which the state of the economy and proposals for rebooting slow growth have emerged as key points of contention.

Despite speculation that the politically-independent BOE might act more cautiously as a result of the upcoming vote, Governor Andrew Bailey had emphasized that it would remain focused on its own data.

Other central banks in Europe have already begun to ease monetary policy, including the European Bank, Swiss National Bank and Sweden’s Riksbank in an effort to stimulate economic growth.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve, has traders wondering when its first rate cut will come. Money market pricing suggests a 65% chance of a September cut, according to LSEG data, CNBC reported.

Switzerland's central bank cut its key interest rate on Thursday for the second straight meeting, lowering its key rate from 1.5% to 1.25%, the Wall Street Journal reported. The bank previously lowered borrowing costs by the same amount in March, becoming the first major central bank from a developed economy to ease policy since the onset of global inflation in 2021.

"The underlying inflationary pressure has decreased again compared to the previous quarter," the SNB said in a statement.

Read now: Bank Of England Signals Imminent Rate Cuts: ‘More Than Currently Priced Into The Market’

Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.