Also, BBA Mortgage Approvals figures were released. Separate report, on BBA Mortgage Approvals showed decrease to 35,700, missing market forecast on a figure of around 36,600. Richard Woolhouse, Chief Economist at the BBA, said:“The mortgage market has been softening since the spring, but for customers taking out home loans right now there are some great deals and we expect the market to begin to grow again this year."

From the UK, house price and CBI Realized Sales data was released on Thursday. UK house prices rose by 0.3% in January, below expected increase by 0.4%. Annual house price growth slowed to 6.8% in January from 7.2% in December. Annual house price growth slowed for the fifth month in a row. The reasons for the slowdown in activity remain unclear. Unemployment has continued to decline and wage growth has started to outstrip increases in the cost of living for the first time since the financial crisis.

The survey of 127 firms showed that whilst sales volumes grew at a slower pace than in the previous month - which benefitted from bumper Black Friday sales - the rate of growth remained healthy, and volumes were well above average for the time of year. Firm growth is anticipated again in the year to February. 50% of retailers said that sales volumes were up in January on a year ago, whilst 10% said they were down, giving a rounded balance of +39%. This was above expectations (+36%) .

Friday's session only brought Total Net Lending to Individuals figures. Total lending to individuals increased by £2.2 billion in December, compared to the average monthly increase of £2.9 billion over the previous six months. This was below expected increase by £3.2 billion.The three-month annualised and twelve-month growth rates were 2.2% and 2.3% respectively.

This week markets will be looking at:

Manufacturing PMI (Monday 10:30)

Construction PMI (Tuesday 10:30)

Services PMI (Wednesday 10:30)

Official Bank Rate/Asset Purchase Facility (Thursday 13:00)

Trade Balance (Friday 10:30)