The Bank of England's monetary policy committee takes centre stage today after counterparts at the Federal Reserve last night appeared to put America on standby for a tapering of economic support from November.
Half of the Fed's 18 policymakers also expect the first increase in interest rates to take place in 2022. Investors will now be looking at comments from the Bank of England, which concludes its monetary policy meeting at noon today.
The FTSE 100 index, meanwhile, has opened higher after rallying sharply yesterday on the back of indebted Chinese property firm Evergrande promising to meet a debt repayment.
There are also updates from Royal Mail and consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser, as well as from the pubs sector with Mitchells & Butlers and City Pub Group.
