United Kingdom Expands While Confidence In Germany Climbs To 18-Month High!

Daily Forex Fundamentals | Written by ecPulse.com | Jan 26 10 09:52 GMT |

As the global outlook reveals more bright signs that the worst recession since post world era is over, confidence levels continue to inch higher, although the improvement we are witnessing currently is as a result of the temporarily measures taken by the central bank and governments around the world. First on our calendars, we see that confidence in Germany inched higher as IFO survey regarding business climate in January which measures the level of confidence in the business sector rose to 95.8 from the revised prior 94.6 from 94.7. Also the survey released the current assessment which is an index on the current German business conditions along with expectations for the upcoming conditions in the next six months. The survey for January inclined to 91.2 from the revised previous reading of 90.4 from 90.5. Furthermore, the IFO expectations for January jumped to 100.6 higher than the revised previous reading of 98.9 from 99.1 and also surpassed the market expectations of 99.1. Germany is the biggest nation in the euro zone contributing nearly a quarter of the euro zone GDP, and the higher the confidence levels rose to an 18-month high, shows that businesses and consumers are optimistic about the outlook of the nation therefore hinting that the recession loosening its grip on the economy. The highlight of today was on the United Kingdom releasing its fourth quarter GDP advanced reading which showed that the economy expanded to 0.1% from the prior third quarter contraction of 0.2%, the markets were projecting an expansion of 0.4%. On the year, the contraction eased to -3.2% from -5.1% which is worse than the predicted contraction of 3.0 percent. The Bank of England is using 200 billion pounds towards buying gilts, and this measure has so far been successful into helping ease the economic recession in the UK as we have been witnessing an improvement in the dominate sectors that support GDP while the severe decline in general price levels have eased. The UK is the last economy out of the major nations to step out of the recession, while next week, officials will discuss the economic progress and decide to whether continue the APF program or start to pull the measures gradually like other major economies. The BoE anticipates that the UK will expand in the last quarter of this year. The economy is expected to grow 2.2% this year and 4.1% in 2011, according to policy makers' projections announced in November. Ecpulse disclaimer: The content of ecPulse.com and any page in the website contain information for investors/traders and is not a recommendation to buy or sell currencies, stocks, gold, silver & energies, nor an offer to buy or sell currencies, stocks, gold, silver & energies. The information provided reflects the writers' opinions that deemed reliable but is not guaranteed as to accuracy or completeness. ecPulse is not liable for any losses or damages, monetary or otherwise that result. I recommend that anyone trades currencies, stocks, gold, silver & energies should do so with caution and consult with a broker before doing so. Prior performance may not be indicative of future performance. Currencies, stocks gold, silver &energies presented should be considered speculative with a high degree of volatility and risk