Despite 13 back-to-back rate rises, Britain remains a hawkish outlier among major economies, and the BOE's task of trying to tame the highest inflation rate in the rich world, while dealing with a super-tight labour market and policy transmission lags, isn't an easy one.
Both GDP and industrial output should have contracted in May from the previous month, leaving markets smug in their view that as policy rates head toward 6%, Britain is heading for a recession.
Gilt yields have come off slightly this week as the latest inflation numbers in a string of similarly softish U.S. data leads investors to believe the Fed will be done raising rates after July.
Nor is China affecting sentiment today, even after trade numbers missed estimates and showed how badly the reopened economy is stuttering.
Reuters GraphicsReuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsKey developments that could influence markets on Thursday:ECB June meeting minutesUK May GDP estimates, industrial production, constructionEditing by Lincoln FeastOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons:
Vidya Ranganathan, Sterling, Lincoln
Organizations:
England's, ECB, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Reuters, Thomson
Locations:
Vidya, Britain, U.S, China