On Wednesday, the Fed became the latest major central bank to reduce borrowing costs, cutting its main interest by half of a percentage point to roughly 4.8% from a two-decade high of 5.3%, where it had stood for 14 months. It also signaled that there will be more cuts to come in the next few months.

The Bank of England left interest rates at 5% on Thursday and voted to run down its stock of British government bonds by another 100 billion pounds ($132.86 billion) over the coming 12 months, weighing on the government's

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said favorable inflation data, and not worries about the labor market, are what convinced him to support policymakers’ decision to lower interest rates by a half percentage point this week.