{"id":58260,"date":"2026-02-05T08:38:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T12:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/bank-of-england-signals-future-cuts-as-tech-giants-face-pre-market-pressure\/58260\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T08:38:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T12:38:29","slug":"bank-of-england-signals-future-cuts-as-tech-giants-face-pre-market-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/bank-of-england-signals-future-cuts-as-tech-giants-face-pre-market-pressure\/58260\/","title":{"rendered":"Bank of England Signals Future Cuts as Tech Giants Face Pre-Market Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bank of England Holds Rates, Signals Future Cuts:<\/strong> The Bank of England (BoE) maintained its Bank Rate at <strong>3.75%<\/strong> with a <strong>5-4 vote<\/strong>, but indicated that rates are <em>likely to be reduced further<\/em> this year, leading traders to boost bets on <strong>50 basis points<\/strong> of cuts by year-end, with a March cut now favored.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tech Giants Face <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/movers\/premarket\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Premarket Movers\">Pre-Market<\/a> Headwinds:<\/strong> <strong>Google (<a href=\"\/stock\/GOOGL\">GOOGL<\/a>)<\/strong> shares fell <strong>3.5%<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/movers\/premarket\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Premarket Movers\">pre-market<\/a> after increasing its <strong>2026 capital expenditure plans<\/strong>, sparking investor concerns over the <em>scale and payback of its AI investments<\/em>, despite topping EPS, revenue, and Cloud revenue estimates. <strong>Microsoft (<a href=\"\/stock\/MSFT\">MSFT<\/a>)<\/strong> also saw a <strong>1.3%<\/strong> drop after a downgrade by Stifel, citing <em>overly optimistic 2027 estimates<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Inflation Outlook Improves, Growth Forecasts Adjusted:<\/strong> The BoE&#39;s latest forecasts show <strong>CPI<\/strong> returning to the <strong>2% target<\/strong> in <strong>Q3 2026<\/strong>, earlier than previous estimates, and projecting <strong>GDP growth<\/strong> of <strong>0.9%<\/strong> in <strong>2026<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mixed Corporate Earnings and Outlooks:<\/strong> <strong>ConocoPhillips (<a href=\"\/stock\/COP\">COP<\/a>)<\/strong> reported slightly lower-than-expected Q4 2025 adjusted EPS and net income, while <strong>Bristol Myers (<a href=\"\/stock\/BMY\">BMY<\/a>)<\/strong> exceeded Q4 revenue and adjusted EPS estimates and provided a strong 2026 revenue outlook.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Bank of England&#39;s Monetary Policy Committee voted by a majority of <strong>5-4<\/strong> to maintain the Bank Rate at <strong>3.75%<\/strong> at its meeting ending on February 4, 2026. Four policymakers \u2013 Breeden, Dhingra, Ramsden, and Taylor \u2013 voted to cut rates by <strong>25 basis points<\/strong> to <strong>3.5%<\/strong>. Despite the hold, the BoE stated that the Bank Rate is <em>likely to be reduced further<\/em>, with Governor Andrew Bailey noting that &quot;all going well, there should be scope for some further reduction in Bank Rate this year.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Money markets reacted by pricing in <strong>50 basis points<\/strong> worth of BoE rate cuts by year-end, an increase from <strong>35 basis points<\/strong> before the BoE statement, with traders now favoring a cut in March. The BoE&#39;s Monetary Policy Report indicated that the <em>risk of greater inflation persistence has become less pronounced<\/em>. The central bank now forecasts <strong>CPI<\/strong> to return to its <strong>2% target<\/strong> in <strong>Q3 2026<\/strong>, a significant shift from its November forecast of Q2 2027. CPI is expected to be <strong>1.7%<\/strong> in one year&#39;s time, <strong>1.8%<\/strong> in two years, and <strong>2.0%<\/strong> in three years.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding economic growth, the BoE estimates <strong>GDP<\/strong> grew <strong>0.2%<\/strong> quarter-on-quarter in Q4 2025 and anticipates <strong>0.3%<\/strong> growth in Q1 2026. The forecast for <strong>GDP growth<\/strong> in <strong>2026<\/strong> was revised down to <strong>0.9%<\/strong> from 1.2% in November, with 2027 and 2028 projections at <strong>1.5%<\/strong> and <strong>1.9%<\/strong> respectively. The BoE also estimates that wage growth of around <strong>3.25%<\/strong> is consistent with its <strong>2% inflation target<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In the US pre-market, <strong>Google (<a href=\"\/stock\/GOOGL\">GOOGL<\/a>)<\/strong> shares declined <strong>3.5%<\/strong> after the company hiked its <strong>2026 capital expenditure plans<\/strong>, which <em>revived investor concerns regarding the scale and payback of its AI investment plans<\/em>, despite reporting better-than-expected EPS, revenue, and Cloud revenue. Meanwhile, <strong>Microsoft (<a href=\"\/stock\/MSFT\">MSFT<\/a>)<\/strong> saw its shares fall <strong>1.3%<\/strong> following a downgrade by Stifel, which views the company&#39;s <strong>2027 estimates as too optimistic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ConocoPhillips (<a href=\"\/stock\/COP\">COP<\/a>)<\/strong> reported Q4 2025 adjusted EPS of <strong>$1.02<\/strong>, missing analyst estimates of <strong>$1.06<\/strong>, and adjusted net income of <strong>$1.3 billion<\/strong> against an estimated <strong>$1.35 billion<\/strong>. However, cash flow from operations came in higher than expected at <strong>$4.32 billion<\/strong>, and the company declared a Q1 ordinary dividend of <strong>84 cents per share<\/strong>. <strong>Bristol Myers (<a href=\"\/stock\/BMY\">BMY<\/a>)<\/strong> exceeded expectations with Q4 adjusted EPS of <strong>$1.26<\/strong> (vs. estimate <strong>$1.12<\/strong>) and revenue of <strong>$12.5 billion<\/strong> (vs. estimate <strong>$12.28 billion<\/strong>). The pharmaceutical giant also provided a strong 2026 revenue outlook of approximately <strong>$46.0 billion to $47.5 billion<\/strong>, surpassing the estimated <strong>$44.16 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In other corporate news, <strong>Merck (<a href=\"\/stock\/MRK\">MRK<\/a>)<\/strong> received Health Canada approval for Enflonsia in infant RSV. Investment bank UBS stated its belief that both <em><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/metal\/gold\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"gold price today\">gold<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/metal\/silver\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"silver price today\">silver<\/a> can move even higher in 2026<\/em>. Additionally, Amundi SA, Europe&#39;s largest asset manager, noted an increasing trend of clients seeking to <em>diversify away from the US market<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Bank of England Holds Rates, Signals Future Cuts: The Bank of England (BoE) maintained its Bank Rate at 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