DEBORAH MARCHINI, CNN ANCHOR: A down day for stocks in Europe.</s>JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN ANCHOR: It's all about interest rates again. Let's check in with Todd Benjamin, who has the very latest -- Todd.</s>TODD BENJAMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Deb. The Bank of England is meeting, we'll get their decision in less than an hour from now, right at about noon our time, 7:00 your time. The expectation is that they will hike rates for the fourth time in six months, they will hike them by a quarter point to six percent. And a lot of folks think that won't be the last interest-rate hike; some out there even think they could raise -- raise by another full percentage point before this tightening cycle is done. The economy is strong, in the sense that you have soaring house prices, especially here in the southeast part of England, right here in London; you've got strong consumer demand; you've got a tight labor market; and the Bank of England is worried that if they don't take preemptive action, then inflation could actually rise above their target of 2 1/2 percent; it's below that right now. In terms of the overall markets, they are down following Wall Street's trouncing: London's down nearly 1 1/2 percent; the Dax is down more than half a percent; Paris is off about three-quarters of one percent; and Zurich is little changed, slightly in negative territory. In the currency market, the dollar is slightly lower against the Japanese currency. The euro is weaker against the dollar. And the pound is more than a half-cent lower against the greenback. One stock I want to mention here: Shell, here in London trading, is up almost 3 1/2 percent. That's after the oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell group reported fourth-quarter earnings that were up 173 percent to $2.2 billion, thanks largely to more than a doubling in crude oil prices. Back to John and Deb in New York.
Bank of England Expected to Hike Rates for Fourth Time in Six Months; Euro Markets Down Following Wall Street's Trouncing