Pharmaceutical group Shire has responded to the fourth takeover proposal from Japan’s Takeda, which values the target at £47 a share.

As before, Shire says it is considering its position and will make a further announcement in due course. Shire shares closed in London at 3821.5p, down 3.8%.

With last night’s comments from Bank of England governor Mark Carney casting some doubt on whether there will indeed be an interest rate rise in May, the pound continues to slip back against the dollar.

It is currently down 0.43% at $1.4028 having soared as high as $1.4376 earlier this week. David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said:

[The pound] is under pressure after Mark Carney’s comments last night. In recent months there was a lot of speculation the Bank of England could hike interest rates next month, and in light of Mr Carney’s remarks, a rate rise looks less likely now. Traders are almost evenly divided over whether there will be a rate hike next month. The pound has enjoyed a positive run recently, and we are now seeing some profit-taking.

Sterling has been rising versus the US dollar for over a year, and while it holds above the 1.3800 region, its outlook could remain positive.

But against the euro, the pound is faring slightly better and is up 0.14% at €1.1424.

Oil prices have slipped further after Donald Trump’s Twitter intervention into the market. Brent crude is now down 0.64% at $73.31 a barrel after earlier hitting a day’s high of $74.15. Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group, said:

Oil prices [have] rolled over from three-year highs. US President Donald Trump has found another financial market to tweet about. The Donald tweeted that OPEC has pushed oil prices artificially high. It’s hard to argue against, that’s the purpose of forming a cartel.

It won’t have escaped Trump’s attention that rising gasoline prices can quickly eclipse any financial benefits to rust belt America from his tax cuts. The question is whether Trump has more than bluster on Twitter to impact the oil price. He probably does, but these tools are already in use. The US government has already opened up drilling rights on and offshore and US production is soaring as a result, adding to supply to the market.

Here’s Suhail Mohammed Faraj Al Mazroui, the minister of energy in the United Arab Emirates, on the oil market:

Back with the UK and the comments from Bank of England governor Mark Carney, Investec’s chief economist still expects a rate hike in May:

The better than expected eurozone consumer confidence figures come despite all the negative headlines surrounding US sanctions and a possible trade war with China. Economist Bert Colijn at ING Bank said:

Even though worries about the global economy have been increasing on the back of trade war concerns and a higher oil price, there is still a lot to like for the Eurozone consumer. Inflation has remained subdued despite the higher oil price and unemployment continues to decrease. While consumers may not be on cloud nine anymore, the economic environment remains positive for consumption.

Last month, consumer confidence was stable at 0.1, but underlying data revealed another deterioration in consumer sentiment. The lower expectations for inflation count positively in the indicator, making up for deteriorating views on the global economy, personal finances and chances of unemployment. The uncertainty in the global economy stemming from trade war concerns seems to play an important role here. ECB president Mario Draghi recently commented that the direct effects of a trade war on the economy would be quite limited, but that damage through weaker confidence could have a more harmful effect on growth. This release suggests that this channel may not be that concerning for consumers so far, but next week’s PMI release may prove Draghi’s concerns to be more significant for the business sector.

Oil producers meeting in Jeddah have hit back after Donald Trump said they were keeping crude prices “artificially high”. Reuters reports:

OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo said the pact between OPEC and non-OPEC countries to cut production had halted the collapse in global oil prices, and said the group was a friend of the United States with an interest in its prosperity.

Output cuts “not only arrested the decline but rescued the oil industry from imminent collapse and is now on course to restore stability on a sustainable basis in the interest of producers, consumers and the global economy,” Barkindo said.

Energy ministers from the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, two OPEC members, also rejected the notion that prices were too high.

It’s been a volatile day for the pound against the dollar.

Sterling is currently down 0.5% at $1.4019, weighed down by Mark Carney’s comments last night in which he suggested a May rate is not a done deal.

The pound is faring better against the euro, up 0.1% at €1.1419.

Andrew Goodwin, lead economist at Oxford Economics, says Mark Carney’s comments last night are a “game changer” and suggest the next rate rise could be put off until June or August:

Mark Carney’s BBC interview on Thursday night threatens to be a game changer in terms of May’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

The MPC had consistently talked up the chances of a May hike, despite a lengthy run of soft economic data, but the Governor gave a clear sign that the Committee is wavering.

There is now a very real chance of the next hike being postponed to June, or even August. But more important than the exact timing of the next move is the degree to which a more rapid slowdown in inflation and weak momentum behind wage growth could undermine the MPC’s case for subsequent hikes.

Time for another look at the markets across Europe, where the FTSE is still ahead of the pack:

• FTSE 100: +0.3% at 7,354

• Germany’s DAX: -0.2% at 12,539

• France’s CAC: +0.2% at 5,403

• Italy’s FTSE MIB: +0.2% at 23,833

• Spain’s IBEX: +0.1% at 9,879

• Europe’s STOXX 600: -0.2% at 381

The UK economy is not the only item on the agenda over at the IMF’s spring meetings in Washington. Helena Smith reports from Athens.

After almost a decade of economic crisis and the biggest bailout in global financial history, Greece will be in the spotlight today when international creditors meet in Washington to discuss a debt relief plan for the country.

After receiving an estimated €260bn under three successive bailouts, international creditors say the time has come to put Greek finances on a sustainable footing. In what some are calling a day of reckoning for the hugely indebted state, the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank heads and finance ministers of the strongest eurozone member states will begin drafting a debt relief plan for the country.

The discussion by members of the so-called Washington Group is expected to be instrumental in facilitating Greece’s ability to stand on its own feet again when its current – and last – bailout programme officially expires this August.

The Greek finance minister Euclid Tsakalotos, who is also in the US capital, will not attend the meeting. Officials in Athens said it was hoped today’s meeting could pave the way for eurozone finance ministers to make concrete decisions when they meet in Bulgaria - the current holder of the EU presidency - next week.

At 180% of GDP, Greece has the highest debt load in the EU. Among the options the Washington Group will likely discuss are support measures to ease the huge cost of servicing Athens’ debt pile.

Will the remaining seven members of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee vote with the governor, Mark Carney, or Michael Saunders, at the May policy meeting?

That is the key question according to Craig Erlam, analyst at currency specialist Oanda, based on the assumption that Carney will vote to leave rates unchanged at 0.5% and Saunders will vote for a hike to 0.75%. Erlam says:

While a hike is by no means off the table, the comments from Carney are a clear and deliberate warning to markets that the Monetary Policy Committee could delay the move by a few months, at which point the data may be less sketchy and the outlook more clear. Market expectations have since fallen to around 45% for a rate hike and could fall further if fellow policy makers join Carney is playing down an increase in a few weeks.

One policy maker that won’t be joining him is Michael Saunders, who spoke this morning about the need to raise interest rates at a “gradual” not “glacial” pace and questioned the significance of first quarter data due to the weather.

He also claimed labour market inflation pressures are greater than forecast in February so I wouldn’t expect his vote to change next month. The question is what camp the other policy makers sit in, Carney’s or Saunders’.

Saunders’ takes a different view to Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England.

Carney said on Thursday night that some of the recent data, such as retail sales, had been softer, and pointed to the fact that inflation has fallen faster than the Bank was predicting in February.

He also suggested that policymakers were aware they could vote for the next hike in rates at any MPC meeting, and were not tied to making such a decision in May.

Andrew Sentance, former members of the MPC, agrees with Saunders:

The Bank of England’s Michael Saunders says that “gradual” rate rises does not mean just one per year:

‘Gradual’ does not imply that the MPC can only raise rates at a very low frequency, such as once per year. Nor does “gradual” mean that the MPC cannot tighten faster than markets price in.

He does however say that the Bank does not intend to give signals about the precise timing of a rate rise:

‘Gradual’ does not necessarily mean that the exact timing of rate changes must be totally predictable or signalled in advance.

The MPC does not intend to create unnecessary uncertainty, and gives guidance – based on our economic forecasts – on the expected general outlook for interest rates.

But I doubt that we will regularly use code words to effectively pre-announce policy decisions from meeting to meeting.

Michael Saunders, a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, is giving a speech in Glasgow this morning.

His comments will be scrutinised by investors and economists hoping for further clues about the likelihood (or not) of a May rate rise.

Saunders is one of the MPC’s most hawkish members - tending to favour tighter monetary policy - and was one of two of the nine-strong committee to vote for a hike in March. The other was Ian McCafferty.

We’ll bring you the highlights of the speech after 10.30am

Economists at the Bank of America say they are sticking with the assumption that UK rates will rise in May, for now at least:

Until last night we assumed the weak data flow would not derail a May hike. There were no signs of cold feet at the Bank of England after a hawkish March policy meeting and rate setter Jan Vlieghe arguing for six hikes in the next three years.

Then last night Governor Mark Carney suggested delay. In a BBC interview he said the BoE was conscious of “other meetings over the course of the year” when they could hike.

As hints go, we think it’s as strong as we get. The data justify delay in our view. We have been sceptical of the need for a May hike. We stick with a May hike for now, waiting to see if other rate setters speak. But the 85% market probability on a May hike looks (much) too high now.

Moya Greene’s departure from Royal Mail will leave the FTSE 100 with just six female chief executives, at a time when the government is pushing for greater boardroom diversity.

Commenting on her departure - after the company announced she will step down as chief executive in June and retire in September - Greene said:

It has been my pleasure and a great privilege to serve as chief executive of this cherished UK institution. I am proud of what we have achieved over the last eight years. It is very pleasing to note that around 20% of this company is owned by our employees and retail shareholders.

Most of all, I am honoured to have worked alongside Royal Mail’s people and the union leadership. It is their hard work and dedication that connects households, communities and companies across the UK every day.