| Time | Country | Event | Period | Previous value | Forecast | Actual |
|---|
| 06:00 | Germany | Factory Orders s.a. (MoM) | June | -0.2% | -0.8% | -0.4% |
| 08:00 | Eurozone | ECB Economic Bulletin | | | | |
| 08:30 | United Kingdom | PMI Construction | July | 52.6 | 52 | 48.9 |
GBP rose against most of its rivals in the European session on Thursday as investors awaited the announcement of the Bank of England’s rate decision due out at 11:00 GMT.
Market participants expect the British central bank, which is focused on combating four-decade high inflation, will announce a 50 basis point rate hike. This would be the sixth straight rate hike by the BoE, which would lift its benchmark rate to 1.75 percent, the highest level since the global financial crisis in 2009.
Meanwhile, the data continued to point to a worsening UK economic outlook. The latest report from S&P Global/CIPS revealed the UK’s construction PMI fell to 48.9 in July from 52.6 in June, slipping into contraction territory for the first time since January 2021.
Against this backdrop, investors will seek hints about further rate moves by the BoE in its minutes.