The daily business briefing: July 14, 2016

Bank of England unexpectedly holds off on rate cut, Amazon Prime Day sales set record, and more

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1. Bank of England unexpectedly holds off on rate cut

Asian stocks hit eight-month highs on Thursday as investors bet on an interest rate cut by the Bank of England, although the U.K. central bank unexpectedly announced it was keeping rates unchanged at 0.5 percent. Analysts had predicted a cut as the U.K. seeks ways to prevent the country's economy from falling into recession following last month's vote to leave the European Union. U.S. stocks have rebounded to record highs after falling sharply right after the June 23 Brexit referendum, and futures jumped by more than 100 points ahead of the U.K. rate decision.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.