Euro-zone GDP growth was revised down to 0.4% in the updated flash Q4 reading from the provisional 0.5% which will tend to dampen expectations that the Euro-zone economy is gaining momentum.
There was also a weaker than expected reading for the German ZEW investor sentiment index, although the overall market impact was limited.
Gold Another week and another high for Gold at $3045. It’s not just the fear factor that leads investors to buy Gold, it’s the Central Bank buying in a bid to diversify away from USD. In the past 3 years, that buying has amounted to over 1000 tons led by China and India, but also other […]
Uncertainty and GBP This is the word that dominates market thinking at present. No surprise that like the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England left UK interest rates unchanged with that uncertainty overshadowing all markets plus the expectation of UK inflation rising from its current 3% rather than falling to the target of 2%. […]
OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development slashed their forecast for 2025 EU growth this week from 1.3% to 1.0%. Germany with slated growth of just 0.4% down from 0.7% was described with a rare touch of OECD humour as the weakest link. While better described as the prime culprit, the effect of flaccid […]