The FTSE rose just 10 points after the bell, allowing the UK index to just about keep its head above 7100. As for the pound, it couldn’t really do much against either the dollar or the euro, sitting just over $1.25 and €1.07 respectively. The UK markets don’t have much to work with this morning beyond the latest net lending to individuals figure (set to rise from £5.1 billion to £5.3 billion month-on-month), meaning that the Eurozone is getting rare moment in the sun.
Tuesday brings with it the first glimpse at the Eurozone-wide fourth quarter GDP reading, as well as the latest inflations figures for the region. The former is forecast to come in at 0.4%, against the 0.3% seen in Q3, with France already posting its own Q4 0.4% earlier in the day. The Eurozone inflation, meanwhile, could be the morning’s big story. It is set to surge from 1.1% to 1.5%, the highest reading since mid-2013; however, the core CPI figure is expected to remain unchanged at 0.9%, something that Mario Draghi can just about use to hold back the hawks in the ECB.
