The UK data releases are expected at 0830GMT and include the preliminary reading of Q1 GDP, the February Index of Services and the March SMMT Auto Production Figures. Did the UK economy manage to tease out growth in the first quarter of 2013 and in so doing avoid slipping into a unprecedented triple-dip recession? That question will be answered on Thursday as National Statistics publishes its first estimate of GDP for Q1. The activity data already published for the first three months of the year show that the economy is teetering on the brink of another contraction. The output data for the quarter is a mixed bag. Services output likely grew by around 0.2% in Q1 but industrial production and construction are likely to have fallen due to the snowy weather. That said, the news on the expenditure side of the economy has been more encouraging with retail sales growing 0.4% in Q1. The trade figures point to a neutral net trade contribution to GDP growth. The weighted average of the Markit/CIPs PMI activity data suggest the economy ground out fractional expansion but those data did not forewarn of the second recession seen in 2011/12.
EasyForexNews Research Team