Key Highlights

● The Bank of England announces its decision Thursday, Nov. 5, at 7 a.m. ET.

● The Fed held at 3.75% to 4.00% in a 10-2 vote, with two hawkish dissents.

● The European Central Bank held its deposit rate at 2.50% after two hikes.

● The Bank of Japan held at 1.25% after hiking the previous month.

The Bank of England is the next major central bank on the calendar. It announces its policy decision on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 12:00 noon UK time, or 7 a.m. ET, according to one broker. That timing places it two days after the US midterms and one day before the October jobs report, in one of the busiest weeks of the year for markets.

A week of holds, with a hawkish tilt

The three biggest central banks have just held rates, but none signaled that tightening is over. The Federal Reserve kept its target range at 3.75% to 4.00% on Wednesday in a 10-2 vote, with Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack dissenting in favor of a hike. Markets put the odds of a December Fed hike at about 85%, according to futures pricing.

The European Central Bank held its deposit rate at 2.50% on Thursday after two hikes in the past five months, with euro-area Inflation near 4%, one report said. President Christine Lagarde also announced she will step down early, in February 2027. French October inflation came in hotter than expected on Friday, at its highest since December 2023. The Bank of Japan held its rate at 1.25% on Friday after hiking the previous month.

Against that backdrop, the Bank of England faces the same global forces: oil prices above $100 a barrel on the Iran conflict, with Brent near $117.80 Friday morning, and long-term bond yields that remain elevated even after an October rally. The Bank's current rate setting and market pricing for next week's decision weren't available, so no forecast is offered.

Why US investors should pay attention

UK policy matters for US markets mainly through bond yields, currencies and multinational earnings. Global Bond markets tend to move together, so a hawkish surprise in London could add pressure on Treasuries just after the US Refunding announcement on Nov. 4. Several US-listed UK companies are also in focus: NatWest (NYSE:NWG)'s US shares were down 8.00% at $15.64 as of 8:23 a.m. ET Friday, according to pre-market data, whose automated notes cite higher impairments, a deferred buyback and an increase in the UK bank surcharge; those explanations are unconfirmed. AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) was up about 4.9% pre-market after its results.

London's stock market has been resilient. The FTSE 100 was up 29 points at 10,752 at 8:15 a.m. GMT Friday, after closing Thursday at 10,722, while Europe's Stoxx 600 was heading for its best month since June, according to media reports.

What to watch: the vote split at the Bank of England, any change in its guidance on further moves, and the reaction in sterling and gilts. For US investors, the more immediate catalysts come first, with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)'s results Monday, the midterms Tuesday and the Treasury refunding Wednesday.