Nick Dixon, investment director at Aegon, says the Bank of England and the government are facing an economic balancing act.

“With increasing demand for pay rises to make up declining real income, the inflation challenge is becoming structural. The pressure is on to increase public sector wages to counter inflation, but with a slim majority the government will be wary about matching wage increases with a tax rise.

"Hence fiscal policy will loosen and monetary policy will tighten to maintain macro-balance. While there has not been a rate rise today, over the next 12-24 months rates will rise higher and faster than market expectations."

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Commenting on the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee's interest rate vote, David Cheetham, chief market analyst at XTB, says: "Despite some expectations for further dissent among the rate-setting committee, [Ian] Mccafferty and [Michael] Saunders remain the only two calling for higher rates.

"The accompanying statement contained some hawkish rhetoric with perhaps the most telling line revealing that all MPC members think that rate hikes will be faster than the current market pricing and this has provided the catalyst for a strong move higher in the pound."

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The pound has jumped against the dollar to $1.3283 after the Bank of England voted 7-2 to hold the interest rate but signalled it could rise faster than expected if economic conditions continue.

The Bank of England has voted to keep interest rates at an all time low of 0.25% but repeated its warning that if the economy keeps its growing as it forecast, rates could rise faster than the market expected.

It said that the growth outlook was slightly stronger than it had predicted last month.

Meanwhile, inflation is rising faster than the the bank's Monetary Policy Committee had expected just one month ago.

The bank pinned the blame for the rise in inflation to the fall in sterling which has made imports more expensive since the referendum. It also said the rising price of oil was adding to inflationary pressures.

Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee members Ian McCafferty and Michael Saunders again voted to raise the interest rate.

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The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has voted to hold the interest rate at its historic low of 0.25%.

Following Ringo Starr's plea for Britain to "get on with" Brexit, the Twittersphere has come up with the #BrexitBeatlesSongs, external tag.

Here are some of the best...

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Munich Re, the German reinsurance group, has that Hurricanes Harvey and Irma could hurt its full-year figures.

The company said: "These two events are expected to result in high insured losses, which the market and Munich Re are unable to quantify at the moment."

Earlier this week, Munich Re estimated that losses for the global insurance industry from the hurricanes could reached between $20bn and $30bn.

Accountancy firm Deloitte has reported a 7.1% rise in full year revenue to $38.8bn (£29.3bn).

The group said that the technology, media and telecommunications sector as as well as the consumer and industrial products industries were strong performers for the year May.

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Profits will continue to fall at Waitrose, says Tom Berry, retail analyst at GlobalData.

Commenting on the results from John Lewis Partnership, which also owns the department store chain, Mr Berry said: "Waitrose must continue to invest in prices to remain affordable for a sufficient number of consumers as many are being enticed by the lower prices of the big four and the discounters.

"With margins already squeezed and large scale investment planned for the rest of the year, we expect profits to continue to fall."

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Speaking in the Commons, culture secretary Karen Bradley outlined why she had decided to refer 21st Century Fox's £11.7bn bid to take control of Sky to competition authorities.

She said "I will now refer the merger to the CMA for a Phase 2 investigation on media plurality and genuine commitment to broadcasting standards grounds.

"I will issue and publish my formal referral decision in the coming days. I will also publish the substantive representation as I have received during this process. From the referral, the [Competition and Markets Authority] has 24 weeks to investigate the merger and provide me with advice."

She added: "I must then come to a decision on whether the merger can proceed, including any conditions."

Culture secretary Karen Bradley says that she will refer 21st Century Fox's bid to take control of satellite broadcaster Sky to the Competition and Markets Authority.

Brexit-backing former Beatle Ringo Starr says the "people voted" and the government "have to get on with it".

British support services and construction company Interserve had its worst ever day of trading after its shares dropped 45.4% to 83.12p following a profit warning.

Interserve said that trading has been disappointing in Britain during July and August and it expects its full year figures to be significantly below expectations.

It said that costs from its exit from the energy-from-waste sector could be higher than anticipated, blaming "the anticipated timing and complexities of completion".

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The new £10 note is all female. As well as picturing the Queen and now novelist Jane Austin, it is also signed by Victoria Cleland, the Bank of England's chief cashier.

Ms Cleland is also director of banknotes and says of the new tenner: "The Bank of England have already gone a long way in terms of different sizes and colours, but we've been able to exploit the durability of the polymer to add these raised bumps for blind people.

"We ran some focus groups with the Royal Institute for Blind People and they were really excited about this feature."

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Inventor Sir James Dyson was in a coy mood when questioned about whether he will produce an electric car.

When quizzed by BBC Radio 4, he admitted that Dyson had hired someone from Tesla, but he said that the firm increases its engineering workforce by 30% every year.

And as to whether Dyson will join Tesla on the road with an electric car?

"You'll just have to wait and see," he said.

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Toshiba shares tumbled in Japan trading after a Bain-led consortium appeared to take the lead in talks over the sale of its prized chip unit.

The embattled electronics firm said late Wednesday it signed a memorandum of understanding with the consortium, but it could still negotiate with other bidders.

Toshiba needs to sell the unit to cover massive losses at its US nuclear operations.

Its shares plunged 4.5% in Tokyo, outpacing modest falls for the broader market. The Nikkei closed down 0.29% at 19.807.44.

Hong Kong also lost ground - the Hang Seng was down 0.42% at 27,777.20, while South Korea pushed higher, with the Kospi up 0.74% at 2,377.66.

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