So, will they or won't they?
They being the members of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), who meet on Thursday to determine whether to increase interest rates.
The general view had been that a quarter point – 25 basis points in the jargon – rise was virtually a certainty but that was before some iffy economic data last month.
Nevertheless, the economists at RBC Capital have confidently predicted a 9-0 unanimous vote by MPC members in favour of a quarter-point rise.
However, they do not see the BoE’s accompanying latest Inflation Report projections to result in wholesale changes for its UK growth and inflation forecasts, and the MPC may flag the risks of a potential global trade war after President Donald Trump’s crusade to protect US companies with a raft of tariffs.
At Dutch finance house ING, said not hiking the interest rate from 0.5% to 0.75% this week would be akin to pulling a rug from under sterling's feet.
“While we see the MPC delivering a 25bps rate hike at the ‘Super Thursday’ August BoE meeting, we think the potential for at least 1, if not 2, dissenters (Cunliffe and Ramsden) – as well as cautious rhetoric by Governor Carney in the post-meeting press conference – is unlikely to engender much hawkish spirit in either UK rates or the pound this week, not least as both markets remain dominated by the risk of a no-deal Brexit,” ING's foreign exchange strategist, Viraj Patel, said.
Howard Archer, the chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, reckons a rate hike is the most likely outcome but expects a split vote from the rate-setters.
“The late-June MPC meeting had seemingly opened the door pretty wide to an August hike with the number of MPC members favouring an immediate rate hike to 0.75% rising to three. The minutes of the meeting were modestly more hawkish.
“However, the odds of an interest rate rise on Thursday look to have now widened given lower-than-expected inflation in June, the recent relapse in earnings growth and heightened political/Brexit uncertainties,” Archer said.
Another busy day for big company announcements
On the corporate front, the long-winded epic mess that is the typical results update from lender Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) is just one of many big announcements expected.
UBS forecasts Barclay’s first-half adjusted pre-tax profit coming in at £1.3bn, with a tangible net asset value per share of 253p.
However, recent news that the Serious Fraud Investigation is set to reinstate charges over its fund-raising in 2008 with Qatar has raised concerns.
US activist investor Sherborne, which took a 5% stake in Barclays earlier this year, is also expected to put pressure on the lender to deliver results.
Results from sector peer BAE Systems PLC (LON:BA.) were a bit mixed but power systems developer Rolls-Royce PLC (LON:RR.) will be hoping to make a more positive impact with its interims.
Deutsche Bank is forecasting revenue of £6.86bn, which is more or less unchanged from the first half of 2017.
Earnings before interest, tax and amortisation will be a paltry £2mln while the underlying loss before tax is expected to be £61mln, versus a profit of £287mln a year earlier.
Significant announcements expected on Thursday:
Interims: Barclays PLC (LON:BARC), Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LON:RR.), Aviva PLC (LON:AV.), RSA Insurance PLC (LON:RSA), London Stock Exchange PLC (LON:LSE), ConvaTec PLC (LON:CTEC), Serco Group PLC (LON:SRP), Merlin Entertainments PLC (LON:MERL), RPS Group PLC (LON:RPS), Ferrexpo PLC (LON:FXPO), Inmarsat Plc (LON:ISAT), Spirent Communications PLC (LON:SPT), Portmeirion Group PLC (LON:PMP), UK Commercial Property REIT PLC (LON:UKCM), Non-Standard Finance PLC (LON:NSF)
Trading updates: Sage Group PLC (LON:SGE). Mitchells & Butlers PLC (LON:MAB)
Ex-dividends: To cut 2.7 points off FTSE 100 index - Micro Focus International PLC (LON:MCRO), RELX PLC (LON:RELX), Unilever plc (LON:ULVR)
Economic data: UK construction PMI; US weekly jobless claims; US factory orders; US challenger job cuts