Bank of England to raise interest rates again next month

Abhishek Goenka IFA Global

The USDINR pair made a gap up opening at 74.66 levels and traded in the range of 74.42-74.70 with a downside bias. The pair finally closed at 74.43 levels. The Reserve Bank of India set the reference rate at 74.5955. The USDINR pair slipped today because state-owned and foreign banks persistently sold the US dollar for foreign fund inflows into Indian companies. The market borrowing arm of the Indian Railways recently raised nearly $500 mln through the issuance of green offshore bonds.

Prices of Brent crude oil remained sharply higher for the fourth consecutive day today as an outage on a pipeline from Iraq to Turkey heightened concerns about an already tight supply outlook amid geopolitical concerns in Russia and the United Arab Emirates. Globally, investors now await speeches by several Fed officials this week ahead of the US central bank's policy meeting in January. The Federal Open Market Committee's two-day policy statement will begin on Jan 25. According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, interest-rate futures markets indicate investors are now betting on four to five interest rate increases this year, up from three to four on Friday.

British consumer price inflation rose more than expected to 5.4% in December, its highest in almost 30 years, official data showed, adding pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates again next month. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast that the annual CPI rate would edge up to 5.2% in December from November's 5.1%.

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Abhishek Goenka

IFA Global

Mr. Abhishek Goenka is the Founder and CEO of IFA Global. He pilots the IFA Global strategic direction with a focus on relentlessly improving the existing offerings while constantly searching for the next generation of business excellence.

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