DEBORAH MARCHINI, CNN ANCHOR: Some leading multi-nationals reported earnings this morning, and the Bank of England is considering whether to raise interest rates.</s>DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN ANCHOR: Those are two of the headlines out of Europe this morning, and here is Todd Benjamin in our London bureau -- Todd.</s>TODD BENJAMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Dave and Deb. Yes, on the Bank of England front, it's really a split decision on whether they raise rates, they have to balance off the strong pound, which is hurting manufacturers again strong consumer spending, wage inflation and rising house prices. In terms of the overall markets this morning, they were up earlier, they're down now. The FTSE and the Dax are off about a quarter percent. Paris is off slightly less. Zurich is off about a third a percent. In the currency market, the big story still is the euro, fell to yet another new low this morning at 88.59, or 88.44, depending on whose quote you take. It's still below 89 after rising slightly above that on a rumor that the Bundesbank had bid in on behalf of the ECB. But I spoke with someone at a major commercial bank who said that was probably the Bundesbank in for commercial purposes, and given where the currency is right now, no one is believing that there was intervention. On the corporate front, Alcatel is up almost six percent after having very good first-quarter results, and saying it was spinning off its cable business to focus on telecoms. Watch for that one in New York. Deutsche Bank had a blowout first quarter, earnings, pre-tax earnings were up 76 percent, helped by a very strong result in its trading profits. Deutsche Bank is also up. And Shell came in at the upper end of expectations for its first- quarter results, net earnings of $3.13 billion, but the stock in Amsterdam was down a quarter, but Shell Transport here in London was up one percent. Back to you in New York.</s>MARCHINI: Thank you, Todd.
Bank of England Considers Rate Hike; Euro Falls to Another New Low