Since inflation in the UK has fallen from its extreme high in 2022, the Bank has steadily decreased its interest rate over the past year, easing the pressure on people with a mortgage to pay.

The Indian rupee is expected to slip past 86 to the U.S. dollar at the open on Friday, hit by surging oil prices and sliding risk assets after Israel attacked targets in Iran.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded the Federal Reserve slash interest rates. But Fed officials have stood pat, waiting to see how his administration’s sweeping policy changes affect the economy first.

Entering the meeting, markets are pricing two interest rate cuts from the Fed in 2025, in line with the central bank's median dot plot projection from March. But since then, there have been significant changes to tariff policy, which will put any updates to the Fed's outlook in particular focus.

U.S. ultra-low sulfur diesel futures hit the highest level since February, outpacing gains in oil and gasoline as analysts warned that diesel supply is the most exposed to the conflict in the Middle East.

The Israeli military warns Iranians to evacuate arms factories, signaling what could be a further widening of the campaign.

The US ordered some staff to leave its embassy in Baghdad, and restricted government employees and family members in Israel from traveling outside major cities like Tel Aviv. Around the same time, risk warnings from naval forces were issued to vessels operating in and around the Persian Gulf,