Five Things World Business Will be Talking About Today

(Bloomberg) 

Decision day at the Bank of England, oil holds below $45, and Mueller investigates Trump. Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today.

BOE-ing

Today the Bank of England is expected to leave interest rates and asset purchases unchanged when it makes its latest policy announcement at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time. While the monetary authority is on a steady path, the latest data from the U.K. economy, including this morning’s retail sales miss, has been weak. That, and the political uncertainty following the election, has increased Governor Mark Carney’s policy challenge. The governor is due to speak this evening at the annual Mansion House address, an event where U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond is expected to make a case for a new path for Brexit. In other unchanging central bank news, earlier today the Swiss National Bank didn’t move rates. 

Trump probe

Special counsel Robert Mueller is examining whether President Donald Trump sought to slow an FBI probe of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, according to three people familiar with the inquiry. Mueller has assembled a team of veteran prosecutors for the investigation into possible collusion between the Russian government and the Trump campaign. The president has not tweeted on the latest revelations. 

Oil under $45

A barrel of West Texas Intermediate for July delivery was trading at $44.64 by 5:35 a.m. after data showed that U.S. gasoline supplies unexpectedly rose for a second week. The drop below $45 is putting pressure back on U.S. shale drillers, with analysts saying a drop to $40 could halt rig-growth in some areas and hit service providers’ efforts to raise fees. 

Markets drop

Overnight, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.9 percent while Japan’s Topix index slipped 0.2 percent ahead of tomorrow’s Bank of Japan policy meeting. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index was 0.6 percent lower at 5:44 a.m. with retailers and commodity producers leading the losses. S&P 500 futures fell 0.5 percent. 

Greece Stop me if you’ve heard this one before…

Greece is at a Eurogroup meeting in Brussels today seeking to reach a deal on ways to ease its debt burden in order to unlock the next slice of aid the country needs to allow it repay about 7 billion euros ($7.9 billion) in maturing bonds in July. Ambitiously, the deal is hoped to offer some clarity on the country’s future