Friday, 02 October 2015 19:37
LONDON: Sterling short-term interest rate swap markets pushed back chances of a first rate rise by the Bank of England to late 2016, after a weaker-than-expected US jobs report saw investors cut the odds of a Federal Reserve hike by the end of 2015.
An improving British labour market has raised expectations the BoE will be among the first major central banks to raise interest rates, although it is seen unlikely to act before the Fed.
Sterling overnight interbank average rates – the very short-term interest rates that form the basis of lending costs in the wider economy – price in a chance of a first rate a year from now, having earlier factored in a move in mid-2016.
The US jobs reports showed payrolls outside of farming rose by 142,000 last month, well below a consensus forecast of 203,000 in a Reuters poll.
August figures were revised sharply lower to show only 136,000 jobs were added in August.
