Market Information Friday 7 May 2021

Yesterday afternoon, the Bank of England announced that there will be no change to its monetary policy. As a result, the policy rate will remain at 0.1% and the size of the bond buyback program will remain unchanged at GBP 895 billion. The central bank did indicate that the pace at which bonds are purchased may be reduced. Policymakers also said that the monetary policy will not be tightened further until the UK is closer to its 2% inflation target.

The number of jobless claims in the U.S. fell to 498,000 in the past week, a decline of 92,000. The number of applications is lower than 500,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Although applications are still more than double than “normal”, analysts say the U.S. labor market is showing an important sign of recovery.

Both Chinese imports and exports increased substantially in April. Exports increased by 32.3%, versus an increase of 21.0% expected by economists. Imports grew by 43.1% compared to April 2020 versus 40.0% expected growth. The Chinese trade surplus in April was USD 42.9 billion, well above the USD 28.2 billion forecast.

The 6M Euribor is unchanged at -0.52% compared to previous business day. The 10Y Swap is unchanged at 0.11% compared to previous business day.

In the attachment, today’s market data on money and capital market rates as well as other rates are presented.