Breaking the bank

Sometimes, all it takes is good organisation and planning to deliver the goods for Reuters clients. Tipped off that the number two at the Bank of England had given an interview to a newspaper in Wales, Reuters was primed to scour the web for its arrival and it didn’t disappoint. Deputy Governor Bean — an advocate of ultra-low interest rates so far — said rates would have to rise if high energy prices became embedded in inflation. Bloomberg was 12 minutes behind Dow Jones was 17 minutes behind. By the time their stories were out, UK markets had lurched. The pound jumped to a three-month high versus the dollar and interest rate futures dropped to reflect the likelihood of earlier action by the central bank. Our polling shows the market consensus was for no UK rate rise before the last quarter of the year. Now, people are talking about May or earlier, a profound shift in expectations.