Investors are preparing for the Bank of England’s bond-buying programme to end as soon as March, after the recent interest rate hike to 0.25% signalled the impending start of its wrap-up.
The bank voted unanimously yesterday to continue the £875bn bond-buying programme but has previously said that it will begin the process of reducing it once rates reach 0.5%. The central bank's next Monetary Policy Committee meeting is scheduled for 4 February, where investors predict another hike will occur, bringing interest rates to the trigger point of ending the programme. "We expect a materially more hawkish shift from the Bank of England in February, and we see rates needing to rise substantially in the year ahead," said Mark Dowding, CIO at BlueBay Asset Management. Markets...
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