European Economic News Preview: BoE Likely To Cut Rates

(RTTNews) - The Bank of England is likely to lower its interest rate from a 16-year high on Thursday but it will be a very close call. The Monetary Policy Committee is expected to trim the bank rate by 25 basis points to 5.00 percent. This will be the first reduction since the onset of the pandemic.

However, markets are divided over the chance of a rate cut today as wage growth and services inflation remain high. The monetary policy summary and the minutes are due at 7.00 am ET.

Final manufacturing Purchasing Managers' survey from major euro area economies and the UK are the other major reports due on Thursday.

At 3.15 am ET, S&P Global publishes Spain's HCOB manufacturing PMI data. The manufacturing index is forecast to rise to 52.5 in July from 52.3 in June.

At 3.45 am ET, Italy's manufacturing PMI data is due. The factory PMI is seen at 46.0 in July, up from 45.7 in June.

At 3.50 am ET, final PMI data is due from France. The final manufacturing reading is seen at 44.1 in July, unchanged from the flash estimate.

At 3.55 am ET, Germany's final HCOB factory PMI data is due. The index is forecast to fall to 42.6 in July, in line with the flash estimate, from 43.5 in June. At 4.00 am ET, S&P Global is set to issue euro area manufacturing PMI survey results. The final score is expected to match the flash score of 45.6, down from 45.8 in June.

At 4.30 am ET, S&P Global publishes the UK manufacturing PMI data for July. Economists forecast the indicator to rise to 51.8, in line with the flash estimate, from 50.9 in June.

At 5.00 am ET, Eurostat releases euro area unemployment data for June. The jobless rate is forecast to remain unchanged at 6.4 percent.