Interest rates today

This lunchtime sees interest rate announcements both in the UK (12.00) and Eurozone (12.45).

Although neither central bank has much room for manouevre, the Eurozone announcement at 12.45 is accompanied by a speech from ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet, which often causes some volatility in the Euro exchange rates.

In the UK, there is no accompanying speech, but the interest rate announcement also includes a policy statement on quantititive easing, which can mean all commercial exchage rates against the pound can be affected.