The Bank of England policy announcement is in focus Thursday. Markets widely expect the BOE to announce a 25 basis point rate cut to bring the bank rate to 4.25 percent. The announcement is due at 7 am ET, along with the BOE Monetary Policy Report and press conference. Investors will watch to see if there is any guidance suggesting the bank might diverge from its once a quarter rate cut practice. As usual, there will be interest in whether there is more than one dissent calling for a bigger rate cut among BOE council members.

In the US, weekly jobless claims will attract attention as markets watch to see if the surprising 18K rise in claims last week is sustained this week. Expectations call for claims to recede to 232K from 241K last week. If there is another upside miss, it will start to raise concern that employers are doing more than pulling back on hiring in response to the tariff shock.

Market Reflections track market reaction to the trading day's major events. Economic data, policymaker speeches, and company news are featured in this report as well as key indexes and financial instruments.

Understanding why markets respond as they do is fundamental for an investor. Market Reflections help explain how the day's events, news, and data impact the outlook for the economy and for market prices.