Shares of the world’s biggest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, were 1.7% higher in late afternoon trade after the company reported higher revenue and a profit growth beat for the second quarter.

Overall resilience came despite a plunge in revenue and core profit in the U.S., where it faced a drop-off in sales of its bestselling Bud Light beer due to an online boycott.

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Samuel Tombs, chief U.K. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the BoE’s new forecasts “broadly endorse markets’ expectations for a further increase in Bank Rate over the coming months” — but expects just one more hike this tightening cycle, by 25 basis points in September.

ING developed markets economist James Smith also said a September hike was likely, adding that the November decision would likely come down whether services inflation has failed to cool. ING’s base case is that a rise to 5.5% in September will be the peak rate for the bank.

“Market pricing of a peak at 5.65% around the turn of the year therefore seems fair – and certainly much more reasonable than it did just a few weeks ago when investors briefly saw peak Bank Rate near 6.5%,” Smith said in a note.

The central bank’s hawkish tone leaves a remaining risk that rates rise from the current 5.25% to 5.75% or 6%, said Paul Dales, chief U.K. economist at Capital Economics.

“Either way, the Bank’s new guidance that rates will be ‘sufficiently restrictive for sufficiently long’ supports our view that rates will stay at their peak for about a year,” Dales said in a note. “It provided some new forward guidance that pours cold water on any hopes of a quick pivot to rate cuts after rates have peaked.”

— Jenni Reid

In a press conference following the announcement of a 25-basis-point rate hike, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said that the central bank remained “evidence-driven” in its considerations.

“We’ve had quite contrasting evidence in the last couple of months or so, the evidence has gone one way then gone a bit the other way,” Bailey said.

“So I don’t think it is time to declare it’s all over, and we’re sticking where we are at the moment, because I do believe that sits at odds with the fact that we’ve had some very big pieces of news, and they’re not going in the same direction.”

In its August statement notes, the BoE notes a mixed outlook for the resilience of household incomes, retail sales volumes and business surveys. The bank is also following whether the currently tight labor market is showing any signs of loosening.

— Jenni Reid

Jordan Rochester, G10 FX strategist at Nomura, discusses market implications of the Bank of England’s 25-basis-point rate hike.

The Bank of England expects U.K. consumer price inflation around 5% by the end of the year, down from the current 7.9%, a faster rate of decline than previously forecast but still well above the institution’s 2% target.

“In the [Monetary Policy Committee]’s August most likely, or modal, projection conditioned on market interest rates, CPI inflation returns to the 2% target by 2025 Q2. It then falls below the target in the medium term, as an increasing degree of economic slack reduces domestic inflationary pressures, alongside declining external cost pressures,” the statement said.

“The Committee has decided in this forecast to bring some of the upside risks to inflation from persistence into its modal projection, pushing up on this inflation projection in the medium term relative to the May Report.”

— Jenni Reid

The Bank of England raised its main interest rate by 25 basis points to 5.25%, a 14th consecutive hike as policymakers strive to rein in inflation.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 6-3 in favor of the quarter-point hike, with two members preferring a second straight 50 basis point increase and one voting to keep rates unchanged.

Market pricing was split roughly 60/40 in favor of a quarter-point hike as of Thursday morning, according to Refinitiv data.

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— Elliot Smith

Shares of the London Stock Exchange Group were down 1% in mid-morning trade after the group reported lower first-half profits. Earnings per share dropped 21.2% to 77.2 pence.

Total income was up 11.9% from the previous year. Data and analytics saw growth of 7.6% following LSEG’s acquisition of data company Refinitiv.

The group estimates revenue growth will be at the top end of its 6-8% forecast.

Shares had dropped as much as 4% in early trading, falling to their lowest point since April 4, according to Reuters.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

The downturn in euro zone business activity accelerated in July, according to the latest purchasing managers’ index data.

The index, which is compiled by S&P Global, dropped to 48.6 in July, down from June’s 49.9.

A score below 50 indicates that an economy is contracting.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

German chipmaker Infineon dropped to the bottom of the Stoxx 600 index as markets opened after the company forecast a slight decline in the fourth quarter. Third-quarter results were in line with expectations.

Shares of SES were up 10% after half-year results reaffirmed the satellite producer’s outlook for 2023. SES reported a 9.8% year-on-year increase in revenue, and announced a share buyback program of up to 150 million euros ($164 million).

European markets are expected to open mixed Thursday, according to IG data. Britain’s FTSE is anticipated to move 16.7 points higher to 7553.8, Germany’s DAX 2.5 points higher to 16,007.2, and France’s CAC up 2 points to 7305.5.

Italy’s MIB is expected to fall 59.5 points to 29,043.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement that she disagreed with Fitch’s decision to downgrade the U.S.’ debt.

“The change by Fitch Ratings announced today is arbitrary and based on outdated data,” Yellen said in a statement. “Fitch’s quantitative ratings model declined markedly between 2018 and 2020 – and yet Fitch is announcing its change now, despite the progress that we see in many of the indicators that Fitch relies on for its decision.”

“Many of these measures, including those related to governance, have shown improvement over the course of this Administration, with the passage of bipartisan legislation to address the debt limit, invest in infrastructure, and make other investments in America’s competitiveness,” Yellen added.

— Fred Imbert

The cost of hedging against a potential stock market downturn has hit a 15-year low, according to research by Bank of America.

The Wall Street bank named a “cheap” options trade that will benefit investors if the S&P 500 fell by 10% over the next 12 months.

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— Ganesh Rao