The gold price plummeted $18 in the hour after midday GMT today, and the FTSE slumped 1.1%, as the rumour spread round the City that the Bank of England MPC was withdrawing all QE from here on. The MPC move was confirmed later.

The Stock Exchange panicked this morning on the news that QE would be ended. As one would expect with news of a fall in Government spend, Gold fell by nearly twenty bucks (almost certainly driven by Hedgie bets on that exact result). But the trading floor’s real lack of confidence in the UK economy’s ability to fend for itself was brought into sharp relief by an immediate fall of over 1% in the FTSE index.

Why the MPC announcement now? Why have there been two distinctly separate reactions in Downing Street? More soon at this location: get a feed now and stay tuned.