German economy stagnates

Not a whole lot of change in the major currencies though both the euro and sterling have given up some ground again against the dollar to trade below $1.13 and below $1.29 respectively (but in truth the trading ranges remain quite tight). The euro is hovering just above 87.5p against the pound. Meanwhile, equity markets chalked up modest gains yesterday, while core bond yields were flat to a touch lower on the day.

The German economy stagnated in the final quarter of 2018 according to data published this morning, with GDP flat (i.e. 0% growth) having contracted by 0.2% in the third quarter of the year. While domestic demand, and particularly investment, rose in Q4, this was offset by a negative contribution from net exports

The annual rate of headline CPI inflation in both the UK and US economies fell again in January – to 1.8% and 1.6% respectively – reflecting the continuing impact of the recent decline in oil prices. Underlying inflation in the two economies is currently running at higher rates though, of 1.9% and 2.1% respectively.

The UK Parliament will today vote on the Government’s motion seeking approval to continue discussions with the EU regarding changes to the backstop

Data due today include a second estimate of Euro area GDP growth in Q4 2018, which the consensus expects to be unchanged from the initial estimate of 0.2% quarter-on-quarter

Other releases of note are employment in the Euro area and retail sales in the US