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Citing confirmation from a British government source, Sky News reported on Thursday that the UK and the US have reached a "heads of terms" agreement and a "substantive" step towards a full trade deal.

"I think it is politically helpful for Keir Starmer to have got the heads of terms, the kind of main points of a US-UK trade deal, nailed down before we see what we have negotiated with the EU - or, more importantly, Donald Trump sees what we have negotiated with the EU,” Sky News Deputy Political Editor, Sam Coates, said.

The key to next month's BOE decision is unlikely to rest on the upcoming data. The highlights are the jobs report and Q1 GDP and real sector data for March. The economy is expected to have grown by 0.3% in the Jan-Mar period after practically stagnating in H2 24. Consumption and business investment look weaker. Manufacturing output may have continued to contract. However, the BOE's forecast was considerably more optimistic with a 0.6% quarterly expansion projected, though nearly stagnating this quarter.