Bank of England Retains Key Rate, Irish Inflation Eases

Arthi Gupta
08 Nov, 2012
New York City

The UK indexes fell after the Bank of England left the key rate unchanged at 0.5% and maintained its quantitative easing at

[R]4:10 PM London – The UK indexes fell after the Bank of England left the key rate unchanged at 0.5% and maintained its quantitative easing at £375 billion. Irish consumer price inflation eased in October.[/R]

The UK indexes declined after the Bank of England left the interest rate unchanged at 0.5% and maintained its quantitative easing at £375 billion.

In London, the benchmark index FTSE 100 fell 16.91 or 0.3% to 5,775.12 and the pound edged higher to $1.5987.

Markets in Europe and in New York fell sharply for the third day in a row on the debt impasse in the euro zone and lowered growth expectations in the current and next year.

U.S. is also heading for a budget showdown among different branches of government to avert the fiscal cliff and avoid the automatic spending cuts and tax increase of $607 billion from Jan 1.

Irish Inflation Eases

Ireland''s inflation based on the consumer price index slowed to 1.2% annually in October from 1.6% in September, the Central Statistics Office reported today.

From a month ago, consumer prices fell 0.1% in October.

Gainers & Losers

Aviva plc gained 0.5% to 330.10 pence after the insurer said excluding Delta Lloyd and RAC, total worldwide sales for the nine-month period declined 5% to £28.95 billion from £30.34 billion in the previous year.

Experian plc rose 0.7% to 1,051 pence after the credit report information services provider reported first-half revenue rose to $2.28 billion from $2.15 billion last year, with revenue growth in Latin America. Net loss for the period was $37 million compared with a profit of $286 million for the prior-year period.

Lancashire Holdings Limited soared 2.3% to 854 pence after the specialty insurance and reinsurance products provider reported third quarter profit gained to $78.8 million compared with $75.7 million a year ago. Earnings per share for the quarter were flat at 42 cents per share.

International Consolidated Airlines Group, S.A. declined 1.1% to 167.70 pence after the airline company confirmed that it is considering making an offer for 100% of the share capital of Vueling Airlines, S.A.

Micro Focus International plc fell 0.2% to 573 pence after the software products manufacturer reported that its six-month adjusted EBITDA was ahead of market expectations.

Reed Elsevier plc dropped 1.5% to $38.77 after the publisher said underlying revenue for the first nine months grew 4% with all five business areas contributing to its growth.