• NIESR says UK will contract at its sharpest rate in 60 years in 2009.
• Euro-zone January (final) services PMI 42.2 (vs 42.5 median forecast) composite PMI 38.3 (vs 38.5 median forecast)
• UK January services PMI 42.5 (VS 40.4 median forecast.) Slowest pace of contraction in 4 months.
• Euro-zone December retail sales flat (m/m), -1.6% (y/y) (vs median forecasts of -0.2% and 1.4% respectively)
• Quite an active morning, with sterling’s across the board gains something of a feature. The pound has even managed to strengthen against the JPY. Nothing new fundamentally to really bring about the improvement. Maybe it’s the Goldman factor (the bank recently forecasting lower EUR/GBP and higher cable this year.