1021 GMT - The Bank of England could skip cutting interest rates in March due to persistent underlying price pressures, Berenberg's Andrew Wishart says in a note. U.K. annual core inflation came in at 3.1% in January, above the 3.0% consensus forecast by economists in a WSJ poll. Annual service inflation stayed elevated at 4.4%, while annual headline inflation slowed to 3.0% in January from 3.4% in December. "Parts of the inflation basket most sensitive to labor costs remain a little too high for comfort," Wishart says. Markets price in an 86% probability of a BOE rate cut in March, LSEG data show. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 18, 2026 05:21 ET (10:21 GMT)

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