After recent declines, it was a slightly rosier picture for stock markets today, helped by some positive results from US businesses Wal-Mart and Cisco and some relatively positive economic news. But worries about the Republicans’ US tax reforms mean investors remain cautious. David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said:

Stocks markets in Europe are higher today as the bargain hunters move in. For now the selling pressure has cooled, but traders are still cautious after the market endured several days of selling in a row. One positive day won’t erase the memory of the declines that we saw recently. As we approach the end of the year, we could see further selling pressure as investors look to square up their position before the year ends.

The final scores in Europe showed:

• The FTSE 100 finished up 14.33 points or 0.19% at 7386.94
• Germany’s Dax rose 0.55% to 13,047.22
• France’s Cac closed 0.66% higher at 5336.39
• Italy’s FTSE MIB added 0.22% to 22,206.60
• Spain’s Ibex ended up 0.75% at 10,088.7
• But in Greece, the Athens market fell 2.43% to 701.36

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is currently up 197 points or 0.85%.

On that note, it’s time to close for the day. Thanks for all your comments, and we’ll be back tomorrow.

Carney is asked about being criticised for commenting on Brexit by both sides of the polictical spectrum.

He says, we have to look straight through that. The only thing political for us is if we try to anticipate a political reaction. We have a responsibility under law to identify major risks to UK financial system and the broader economy.

In advance of the referendum and today we see some of the most important risks relate to Brexit so when we testify to Parliament and when we sit here...we view that there are risks and there are big risks and we have to disclose those under law, then we have to say what we are doing to reduce those risks and again be honest and open, and say if there are some risks we can address you should know about them and hold others to account for addressing them.

He is asked, did the bank do a good enough job in explaining what it was worried about?

He says, we were under a statutory responsibility to identify risks. If there was a vote to leave, we said the exchange rate would go down - you can judge whether it did. We said there would be pressure on UK financial institutions. We let them put collateral with us so they could borrow almost unlimited amounts with us, we co-ordinated with other central banks, so in the morning after the referendum...we could stand up and say we’re well prepared, the system’s going to be fine. That is the criteria we should be judged against. Some people during the campaign didn’t want to know there were risks, but there were, we did our best to address them...

There are risks associated with the nature of leaving, it matters what type of deal we get, it matters what the timeline is.

With that the session ends and the governors mingle with the audience.

Sam Woods is asked how the Bank keeps banks safe.

We have all sorts of complicated frameworks but they come down to two things: does the bank have enough of its own money to absorb any losses, and are the people running the bank honest, competent and know what they’re doing. If either question is no, we take action.

It would be easy to crush all risk out of the system, but we don’t want to do that, we want banks to do useful things like lending to consumers and businesses.

Woods is asked about why the money was put into the banks rather than helping the NHS.

He says it’s a fair point. Back in 2008 we put £66bn into two of our banks, same number as all currency in circulation. It was a terrible thing, and a lot of work we;e done is to make the system stronger so that next time we have more options and not just taxpayer writing a cheque.

Sir Jon Cunliffe adds that the money was put in not to save the bankers but to save the economy from the bankers. The anger [about the crisis] is well justified.

Ben Broadbent is asked to explain why interest rates rose at the most recent meeting, in two and a half minutes.

He emphasises the importance of stable inflation, saying volatile inflation is not good for economy, and it makes it difficult for businesses to plan.

We vary the interest rate to ensure inflation is stable. Inflation can be too low as well as too high. After the financial crisis, the danger was it was too low, interest rates were cutt to ensure that didn’t happen.

After the referendum, the value of the currency fell, all stuff we buy from abroad went up in price and pushed up the rate of inflation.

Although interest rates are at historic lows, the MPC did decide to put them up at last meeting. It makes borrowing a bit more expensive, adds a little bit to savings, helps to control inflation.

On wages he said: Wages are not going up as rapidly as they used to before the crisis. The problem we have in the economy is productivity, how much more productive we get over time. That is fundamentally why wages are growing less quickly.

On whether interest rates are effective, he said the policy has worked pretty well.

After a couple of days of decline, US markets have opened in positive territory after strong earnings from Cisco and Wal-Mart.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 130 points or 0.57% while the S&P 500 opened 0.39% higher and Nasdaq Composite 0.55% better.

Away from the Bank, some more US data.

Industrial production rose by more than expected in October, up 0.9% compared to a 0.4% rise in September, as output rebounded after the effects of the recent hurricanes. Analysts had been expecting a 0.5% increase last month.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week, partly because authorities are still clearing backlog of claims in Puerto Rico following the disruption caused by hurricanes.

New claims increased by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 249,000 in the week ending 11 November, the US Labor Department said.

Economists polled by Reuters were expecting a fall in the number of new claims to 235,000.

Sales at Asda, Walmart’s UK supermarket chain, rose over the third quarter, by 1.1% on a like-for-like basis.

It was slower than the 1.8% growth achieved in the previous quarter, but marked the second consecutive rise in quarterly sales following three years of falls.

Walmart boss Doug McMillon said lower prices were encouraging shoppers to buy more:

In the UK, Asda delivered positive comparative sales again this quarter. The improvements in store experience and price investments are increasing store basket sizes.

We’re excited to have Roger Burnley lead Asda into the future as chief executive starting next year. Over the past year, Roger has been our chief operating officer and deputy chief executive and he has a long and distinguished retail career. I’d like to thank Sean Clarke for the tremendous work that he has done over the past year to stabilise the business and position it for growth.

Over in the US, the world’s largest retailer has reported its 13th consecutive rise in quarterly like-for-like sales, driven by growth in both shops and online.

Sales at Walmart stores open for more than a year rose 2.7%, excluding fuel, in the third quarter ending on 31 October. Analysts were expecting weaker growth of 1.7%.

Adjusted earnings a share increased to $1, beating expectations of 97 cents a share.

Doug McMillon, Walmart’s president and chief executive:

We have momentum, and it’s encouraging to see customers responding to our store and eCommerce initiatives. We are leveraging our unique assets to save customers time and money and serve them in ways that are easy, fast, friendly and fun.

The results, together with strong earnings reported by Cisco, are expected to boost Wall Street following two days of losses.

The British Retail Consortium says the October retail sales data from the ONS shows retailers are feeling the impact of the squeeze in household finances (as prices rise faster than wages):

These figures suggest retail sales held up better in October than other sources have suggested, however there is still little cause to start the Christmas celebrations.

Consumers are clearly feeling the squeeze, with sales down year on year and spending being directed into the second-hand market. It is therefore, vital that the chancellor does not add to the pressures on UK households’ finances in his upcoming budget.

Eurozone inflation was 1.4% in October according to Eurostat, confirming its earlier flash estimate. It was a slight drop from 1.5% in September.

Fuel, hotels and milk, cheese and eggs made the biggest contributions to inflation last month, while clothing and social protect held it back.

Here is a table showing how inflation rates across the European Union compare (showing the UK has one of the highest rates at 3%):

Consumer reluctance to spend money in October was evident in clothing sales, which fell by 1.5% over the month.

However, retailers are putting a lot of that down to warmer weather, which they say put people off from stocking up on winter clothing.

The ONS says:

Feedback from a number of clothing retailers suggested that a particularly mild October meant that consumers delayed purchasing winter season clothing. The Met Office summary for October 2017 said that the UK mean temperature was above the long-term average for this period.

James Smith, economist at ING, says that while the warmer weather played a part in the drop in clothing sales, there is also a broader weakness in consumer spending:

After a fairly sharp slump in September, retail sales stagnated in October as unseasonably warm weather meant shoppers weren’t replenishing their winter wardrobes.

But as weak readings from Visa and the British Retail Consortium have highlighted in recent months, consumers are still remaining very cautious more generally, particularly when it comes to non-essentials.

The household spending squeeze may have passed its worst, and indeed we think headline inflation will trend downwards from here. But wage growth remains under pressure, and with jobs growth showing early signs of stalling, we think incomes may not accelerate as fast as the Bank of England is hoping in 2018. That means consumers are likely to continue to take a cautious approach to spending for at least a couple more quarters.

Some economists are not overly impressed with the 0.3% rise in retail sales in October, cautioning that it still paints a pretty weak picture of the consumer backdrop.

Demand for second-hand goods was a key driver of the 0.3% increase in monthly retail sales, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Consumers bought antiques, fine art and visited auction houses and charity shops in greater numbers in October.

Computers and phones were also popular items last month.

Kate Davies, a senior statistician at the ONS, says:

We are continuing to see an underlying picture of steady growth in retail sales, although this October suffered in comparison with a very strong October in 2016.

Growth month-on-month in October was particularly strong in the second-hand goods sector, which includes auction houses and antique dealers.

Retail sales have beaten expectations with a 0.3% increase in October. Economists forecast 0.1%.

August has also been revised up slightly to show a sales drop of 0.7%, compared with a previous estimate of a 0.8% fall.

It wasn’t enough to prevent the first drop in annual sales since March 2013, with sales in October down 0.3% compared with a year earlier.

Engineering group GKN is the FTSE 100’s worst performer this morning, with shares currently down 8%.

It follows the company’s shock announcement that chief executive designate, Kevin Cummings, has been pushed out before he’s even started the job.

An extraordinary announcement from GKN this morning.

The engineering giant has ousted Kevin Cummings, the man who was picked in September to take over as chief executive in December when Nigel Stein retires.

Cummings, who was until today head of GKN’s aerospace business, has left “with immediate effect”. His departure follows further write-downs in its US aerospace business which are expected to be somewhere between £80m and £130m.

A statement from the company reads:

The GKN board has concluded that the next stage of GKN’s development is best delivered under alternative leadership. As a result, Kevin Cummings, previously CEO designate, will leave the board and GKN with immediate effect.

The board has asked Anne Stevens, currently a non-executive director of the Board, to assume the role of Interim Chief Executive with effect from 1 January 2018 until a successor is appointed. As planned, Nigel Stein will continue as Chief Executive until he retires from the role on 31 December 2017.

The FTSE 100 is slightly higher this morning, up just 5 points at 7,377.

Here is how it’s looking across Europe:

• FTSE 100: +0.1% at 7,377

• Germany’s DAX: +0.5% at 13,036

• France’s CAC: +0.4% at 5,321

• Italy’s FTSE MIB: -0.04% at 22,150

• Spain’s IBEX: +0.5% at 10,065

• Europe’s STOXX 600: +0.4% at 383

Commenting on the current state of the economy, the Bank of England governor said the UK was worse off than it would have been if Britain had voted to remain in the EU.

We have not done as well in the short term as we would have done if the vote had gone the other way.

We’ve gone from being the fastest growing economy in the G7 to one the slowest.

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

Mark Carney gave reassurance this morning that the Bank of England stands ready to do whatever it can to support the UK economy in the event of any Brexit shock.

In an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain, the governor said policymakers at Threadneedle Street would keep inflation low and the financial system secure, whether or not a Brexit deal was struck with the EU.

We will do whatever we can to support the economy during the transition - whether there is no deal or a comprehensive deal.

We can provide support by keeping prices low and stable and by making sure banks can withstand whatever shock that might come whatever deal we have.

People shouldn’t have to worry about inflation and financial stability. We’ll make sure inflation stays low and the banks stay strong.

Carney added that a transition deal would be in “everyone’s interest”, and negotiators were working with that goal in mind.

He gave the interview in Liverpool, where he will be joined today from his colleagues Ben Broadbent, Sir Jon Cunliffe and Sir Dave Ramsden and for the 2017 Bank of England Future Forum. The policymakers will visit schools across the city to discuss the Bank’s role in serving society.

Also coming up today...

• 9.30am GMT: UK retail sales for October will give the latest snapshot of the high street and appetite among consumers to spend

• 10am GMT: Eurozone inflation data will provide a final estimate for October

• 1.30pm GMT: US weekly jobs losses will give the most recent update of the labour market