Tuesday brought UK GDP data. UK GDP is estimated to have increased by 0.3% in Quarter 1, missing forecasts on 0.5% growth, compared with growth of 0.6% in Quarter 4 2014. Output increased in services by 0.5%,while the other 3 main industrial groupings within the economy decreased, with construction falling by 1.6%, production by 0.1% and agriculture by 0.2%.However, this was the slowest growth since the fourth quarter of 2012, the ONS said, when there were fears that Britain was tipping back into recession.
On Wednesday CBI Realized Sales survey was released showing that 30% of respondents said volumes were up on a year ago, and 18% said they were down, giving a balance of +12%, a slight slowing in sales growth on the previous month (+18%) and below expectations (+26%). Barry Williams, CBI DTS chairman and Asda’s Chief Customer Officer, said:“With the mixed news we’ve been seeing from the high street recently it’s perhaps not surprising that retailers have reported varied fortunes this month.
This week markets will be looking at:
Construction PMI (Tuesday 10:30)
Services PMI (Wednesday 10:30)
Parliamentary Elections (Thursday)
Trade Balance (Friday 10:30)
