Ahead of Friday’s U.S. jobs report, today the Bank of England cut interest rates in the U.K. to avoid a possible post-Brexit vote recession. Policymakers voted unanimously to cut rates a quarter point to 0.25% in the BOE’s first rate reduction in seven years. Banking officials in the UK also introduced a package of measures designed to provide additional monetary stimulus.
Following the announcement the British pound immediately began to lose value. It saw its biggest drop since the aftermath of June’s Brexit vote, trading about 1.6% lower versus the dollar at $1.3.
What kind of affect could the Bank of England’s rate reduction have on the FOMC here in the US? Analysts appearing on CNBC today pondered the possibilities. Watch below.
Here are the final numbers from Thursday, August 4th, 2016 on Wall Street:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 18,352.05 (-2.95 / -0.2%)
NASDAQ: 5,166.25 (+6.51 / +.13%)
S&P 500: 2,164.25 (+0.46/ +0.02%)
