European markets held on to strong gains on Thursday after the Bank of England followed the Federal Reserve in assuming a more aggressive stance in pushing back against high levels of inflation.
London’s FTSE 100 index maintained its early morning gains following the BoE’s decision, rising 1 per cent. Sterling climbed 0.8 per cent against the dollar to $1.337, its strongest level in three weeks. Markets on continental Europe were up more strongly, pushing the regional Stoxx 600 up 1.7 per cent, while US stock-index futures also advanced.
The BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee voted 8-1 on Thursday to increase rates by 0.15 percentage points to 0.25 per cent, surprising some economists who had expected the BoE to hold fire given the rapid spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.