Bye bye rate cuts!

The UK's inflation rate for April came in higher than expected, which dampened rate cut expectations from the Bank of England. Several Fed officials also dashed investors’ hopes in terms of monetary policy in the US.

The consumer price index in Britain came in at 2.3%, down from 3.2% in March, the lowest since July 2021. However, this was higher than the 2.3% expected. In addition, the core inflation rate, excluding volatile items like energy and food, remains high at 3.9%, slightly down from 4.2% in March. As a result, the pound rose to its highest point against the dollar since March. - Investors now expect the Bank of England to hold the key rate at 5.25% in June, with potential cuts later in the year.

Equities ended lower on Tuesday, after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said that the April CPI data provided some relief, but he stressed that more data is needed before considering any rate reductions. The FTSE 100 inched down 0.1%, and was down 0.4% this morning.

Investors are eagerly awaiting the minutes from the latest Fed meeting, released later today, to get more clues about the timing of rate cuts. They are also bracing for the results of tech giant Nvidia.

Among stocks, Marks & Spencer jumped 8.5% after reporting a 58% rise in annual profit.

Things to read today:

• Subprime bonds join the all-out rally (Wall Street Journal).
• ASML and TSMC may disable chip-making machines if China invades Taiwan (Bloomberg).
• The acceleration of Wall Street transactions puts global finance at risk (Bloomberg).
• UK rate cut hopes dented after inflation falls less than expected (Financial Times)