News Headline Summary

Worth a read ahead of tomorrow's BoE rate and APF target decision; Guardian writes: Quantitative easing doubts dispelled by sickly services data

The MPC rejected extra stimulus by 5-4 last month – it now looks an odds-on certainty Thursday's vote will go the other way.

If there was ever the slightest doubt that the Bank of England would announce fresh measures on Thursday to stimulate the economy, it was dispelled by the latest health check on the services sector from Cips/Markit.

The one crumb of comfort from the report was that the purchasing managers' index (PMI) remained above the level that separates a sector that is expanding from one that is contracting.

But don't read too much into that because the PMIs have tended to be markedly more upbeat in recent months than the official data.

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/economics-blog/2012/jul/04/quantitative-easing-mpc-services-data

Print 19:42, 04 Jul 2012 - Economic commentary - Source: Guardian