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Business Today
Business live
Bank of England tipped to leave interest rates on hold; Shell profits drop
Live  
Bank of England tipped to leave interest rates on hold; Shell profits drop
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
Headlines
Interest rates  
Bank of England expected to hold rates and warn on inflation
Bank of England expected to hold rates and warn on inflation
Shell  
Firm to raise dividends again despite 30% fall in annual profits
Labour  
Frustration in party ranks over Reeves’s refusal to reinstate bankers’ bonus cap
Tata Steel  
Boss defends decision to cut thousands of jobs at Port Talbot
Federal Reserve  
Central bank continues to hold interest rates at 23-year high
Green economy  
UK risks steep decline without £28bn pledge, Labour warned
Autonomy  
Extradited Autonomy founder Mike Lynch sues SFO over data request
National lottery  
Owner of UK operator still in business with Gazprom
FTX  
Firm scraps plan to revive exchange and will repay billions to customers
Farming  
EU delays biodiversity rules amid rising protests
Brexit  
Checks are ‘price you pay for being a sovereign state again’
Inquiry  
Prosecutor was ‘never told of Horizon IT problems’
Novo Nordisk  
Obesity drug boom pushes shares to record high
'Grans continental'  
EasyJet announces 'grans go free' deal on holidays to Europe
Today's agenda
These are tricky times for central bankers. Growth is being held back by high interest rates, while inflation is still over target despite falling back from the peaks of the last two years. So the Bank of England has plenty to ponder, as it prepares to set interest rates at noon today.

The City is confident that the Bank will leave interest rates on hold at their current 15-year high of 5.25%. With inflation at 4% – twice the BoE’s 2% target – policymakers probably won’t feel confident with easing policy.

The money markets reckon there’s a 99% chance that the Bank holds rates unchanged today, with a 1% possibility of a shock rise to 5.5%. The Bank may also cut its forecast for inflation this year, while investors also expect the BoE to signal when rate cuts are likely to start this year.

Rates have been held at 5.25% since last August. But the nine members of the Bank’s monetary policy have been split at recent interest votes – with some hawkish members pushing for higher borrowing costs.

Last night, America’s Federal Reserve left interest rate on hold, while Fed chair Jerome Powell tried to cool expectations that it would begin cutting interest rates as soon as March.

Powell insisted a March cut was not the Fed’s “base case”, seen as an indication that the Fed could delay easing monetary policy until May.

The UK Labour party will be wooing business chiefs, and vice versa, today as it holds its largest ever business conference. About 400 senior business leaders will gather for speeches, panels and roundtables in central London, at an event where tickets sold out in just a few hours.

With a general election due within a year, Labour is expecting business leaders from firms such as Google, Shell, AstraZenaca, Airbus, and Goldman Sachs. 

Profits at oil giant Shell have dropped by almost a third, but that hasn’t stopped it announcing another share buyback scheme and lifting its dividend.

Shell has reported annual adjusted profits for 2023 of $28bn, 29% down from its record earnings of almost $40bn in 2022. The drop in profits is down to lower oil and gas prices, lower volumes, and lower refining margins, Shell says.

In the last quarter of 2023, Shell made $7.3bn, up from $6.2bn in the third quarter of last year, but lower than the $9.8bn made in Q4 2022. The oil company has also announced a new share buyback programme of $3.5bn, and is also lifting its dividend by 4%.

Also coming up
• 8.30am GMT: Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, sets interest rates.
• 9am GMT: Eurozone manufacturing PMI report for January
• 9.30am GMT: UK manufacturing PMI report for January
• 10am GMT: Eurozone flash inflation reading for January
• Noon: Bank of England interest rate decision
• 12.30pm GMT: Bank of England press conference
• 1.30pm GMT: US weekly jobless data

We’ll be tracking all the main events throughout the day ...
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Three cheers for the Delaware judge who stood up to Elon Musk
Opinion
So this is how the Royal Mail ends: killed by lying politicians, lousy managers and ruthless moneymen
Aditya Chakrabortty
So this is how the Royal Mail ends: killed by lying politicians, lousy managers and ruthless moneymen
Editorial  
Customs borders: Northern Ireland deal highlights broken Brexit promises
Analysis  
‘Hypocritical’ European politicians weaken climate policies amid farmer protests
Editorial  
Rishi Sunak’s tax plans: stop trying to buy votes
Explainer  
What is Labour’s £28bn green plan – and could it be shelved?
Media
Social media  
CEOs testify on child sexual exploitation to US Congress
CEOs testify on child sexual exploitation to US Congress
Commercial radio  
Greatest Hits Radio DJ Ken Bruce steals more BBC listeners
Spotlight
Are you ‘loud budgeting’ or ‘doom spending’?
Finance according to gen Z  
Are you ‘loud budgeting’ or ‘doom spending’?
US schools fall short on financial literacy. So a generation saddled with money woes has developed language of its own
Popular on business
EasyJet announces ‘grans go free’ deal on holidays to Europe
EasyJet announces ‘grans go free’ deal on holidays to Europe
Legal action launched against ‘rip-off’ secret commissions on UK firms’ energy bills
Obesity drug boom pushes Novo Nordisk shares to record high
Morrisons shoppers to join management meetings as chain seeks revival
Australia Post apologises after workers underpaid by $5.6m over 10 years due to ‘payroll errors’
Get in touch
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