The Bank of England's inflation report has given shares a gentle nudge upwards. Having been down by just over 6 points at 4665.3 before Mervyn King presented the BoE's latest forecast, the FTSE 100 index is now 4673.32, a rise of just over two points.
Balfour Beatty still leads the way after its results this morning, up 7.1% at 342.4p, followed by two partially-nationalised banks - Royal Bank of Scotland is up 5.5% at 45.1p and Lloyds Banking Group is 4.3% higher at 94.95p.
King's warning that inflation is likely to fall below 1% in the next few months - prompting yet another letter to the chancellor - but that the economic recovery would probably be slow and protracted had more effect on sterling. The pound rapidly shed 0.35 of a cent to hit $1.641 against the dollar, but recovered to $1.643 after the governor played down fears of a double-dip recession.
