US stock markets are due to reopen on Friday afternoon following Thursday’s closure, but the investing outlook is still clouded by uncertainty after Donald Trump announced a two-week timeline to decide if the US will get involved in a potential brewing war between Israel and Iran.
For the UK, the FTSE traded lower on Thursday as the Bank of England announced a hold on interest rates at 4.25 per cent; while this was expected, higher than expected inflation data earlier in the week and the prospect of higher energy bills due to rising oil prices means there is now much more scrutiny on August’s MPC meeting and whether they will indeed cut interest rates then.
