The Bank of England’s main interest rate currently stands at 4.5%. Up until the last few days, most analysts had been expecting the central bank to cut that twice this year.

But after Trump announced bigger-than-expected tariffs on a number of countries, financial markets now predict four cuts.

So-called swap rates, which influence the price of fixed-rate mortgage deals, have been falling in recent days. However, they bounced back slightly on Thursday following the pause on some of the steepest tariffs.

Andrew Montlake, chief executive of Coreco mortgage brokers, said it showed how volatile markets are at present.

While he would like to see more lenders offer cheaper deals, “lenders may well prefer to adopt more of a wait and see approach,” he said.

“Rate cuts are on the cards, with the Bank of England expected to cut further in May, but mortgage rates may not fall quite as much as some are predicting.

“Trying to play the market in this environment is fraught with danger,” he added.

Hannah Bashford, mortgage and protection adviser at Model Financial Solutions, said that while Barclays’ cuts were “a very positive step” for borrowers, the sub-4% rates it was offering were for purchases and not for people looking to re-mortgage.

“This is a signal that the lenders are still trying to keep the housing market alive but are keeping re-mortgage customers out in the cold,” she said.