Eurozone Q2 Economic Growth Tops Expectations

(RTTNews) - Eurozone economic growth topped economists' expectations in the second quarter, showing the biggest expansion in more than three years.

Propelled by robust German growth, the 16-nation bloc grew at a faster pace of 1% sequentially in the second quarter, following a 0.2% rise in the first quarter, preliminary data published by Eurostat showed on Friday. Economists had expected only 0.7% rise.

Weekly Market Watch - JP Morgan (The week ahead)

Policy rates and inflation data are in focus next week. G10 inflation is again expected to come in soft, which in turn is suppressing rate expectations. Central banks will be meeting in the U.S., Japan, Norway, and South Korea this week. All are expected to be on hold, although, with the recent positive data from Norway, we could see a more hawkish tone out of the Norges Bank. Within the Euro area, we have Greek Q2 GDP data on Wednesday, and the consensus expects a decline of 1.1% quarter-on-quarter and 3.4% year on-year.