Mark Carney: central banks not to blame for rising inequality - as it happened
BoE governor says central banks aren't solely responsible for rising inequality and record low interest rates, as he insists he'll leave in 2019
- President Obama in Greece
- Stronger than expected US retail sales
- Mark Carney faces MPs: What we learned
- Carney: Critics are conducting a massive blame deflection game
- Carney quizzed by the Treasury committee: highlights start here
- UK inflation drops to 0.9%
6.11pm GMT
The weaker than expected UK inflation figures have put pressure on the pound again, pushing it lower against the dollar and the euro.
Sterling is currently down 0.4% at $1.2433 against the dollar, and the same amount lower against the euro at a1.1585.
5.30pm GMT
Despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping back after several days of gains, European markets ended the day in positive territory. The UK market was helped by weaker than expected inflation figures, which pushed back the chances of an interest rate rise from the Bank of England. Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG, said:
Stock markets rose once more today, as hopes of a high growth period based on substantial fiscal stimulus continued to stoke the embers of last week's US election... we have seen energy stocks grab some respite today, as crude prices rose in the wake of a fresh charge from OPEC to find a means to ensure the output cut comes to fruition.
5.01pm GMT
Elsewhere, crude has been buoyed by renewed talk that oil producers are trying to pave the way for an agreement on curbing output later this month. Brent crude is currently up 4% at $46.24 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate has jumped 4.4% to $45.24.
Reuters has reported that Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih is expected to travel to Qatar this week for a meeting with producers. The outline of a deal to limit output was agreed by Opec in Algiers in September, but the details have proved difficult to agree.
4.55pm GMT
Not everyone is happy with Barack Obama's presence in Greece. Helena Smith reports:
Thousands of protestors have taken to the streets in a mass display of opposition against Obama.
Despite a government ban on protestors taking place during the 29-hour period the US president is expected to be in the Greek capital as many as 3,000 people, many communists and hardline leftists, have defied the order to gather in central Athens and march towards the US embassy.
3.40pm GMT
Here are Obama and Alexis Tsipras, courtesy of the White House, with the US president saying he would continue to urge Greece's creditors to take the steps needed to put the country on the path to a durable economic recovery:
"Kalispera." Watch @POTUS speak alongside PM @tsipras_eu in Athens-his first stop on his final planned foreign trip: https://t.co/BDXY7VdZmH
3.11pm GMT
After six straight days of rises, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is pausing for breathe.
It is currently down 26 points or 0.15%, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both moved higher at the open.
3.09pm GMT
More from Obama on debt relief for Greece:
#Obama: it is important to combine reforms, cuts with growth agenda #Greece
#Obama: you need a growth agenda, difficult without debt relief mechanism #Greece
"Elex always turn on personalities .. turn on natural desire for change if incumbant has been there for 8 years," says #Obama in #Athens
Tsipras says he is *optimistic* that Merkel will be convinced (by @POTUS !) to provide substantive debt relief to Greece. #obama_athens
2.49pm GMT
And here are Obama's comments. Helena reports:
"I have always wanted to come to Greece ... I think we all know that the world owes an enormous debt to Greece and the Greek people," Obama also told reporters.
"The ideas of ancient Greeks helped inspire our founding fathers ".to this day the United States is profoundly grateful to our Greek friends.
2.44pm GMT
Back to Greece again, where the US president has begun his farewell tour of Europe. Our correspondent Helena Smith reports:
Barack Obama may be visiting Athens at the end of his time in office but the outgoing US leader has not disappointed. Barely three hours after he touched down in a Greek capital rendered almost unrecognizable by draconian security, Obama said the three words Greek officials have wanted the world leader to utter: debt, austerity and solidarity. "I will continue to underline that austerity alone cannot deliver prosperity," he told the Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras after being greeted by the debt-stricken country's head of state and the rousing tones of a military honour band. "Debt relief is needed."
Earlier he had said: "Greece has gone through very challenging and dramatic times over the last several years. We are glad to see that progress is being made, although we recognise that there are significant challenges ahead, and we intend to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Greek people throughout this process. "
Athens' leftist led government has made little secret that it hopes the US president's open display of support will resonate with Germany and other partners in Europe which have footed the bill of the nation's massive bailouts but demanded punishing belt-tightening in return. "We consider this visit will contribute to the effort to reduce Greece's debt, its spokesman said ahead of the leader's arrival. "The US president has repeatedly stated he wants to solve this huge issue before he leaves office."
Obama, only the fourth American leader to visit the country since its foundation nearly 200 years ago, heads to Berlin once his 29-hour sojourn in Athens ends on Wednesday.
Obama, who also spoke of the importance of reforms in making the Greek economy more competitive, emphasized the significance of a "strong, prosperous and unified Europe " not just for the people of Europe but for the whole world and the US."
This is the first time a sitting US president has elected to visit Greece on its own. On previous occasions Turkey has also been included in the tour. But Obama, who is accompanied by his Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew and Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, is believed to have wanted to make the trip for a long time. "It was a personal choice," said the defense minister Panos Kammenos speaking to a local radio station after welcoming the leader at Athens' international airport. The symbolism of Athens being the birthplace of democracy also played a significant role for a president now determined to allay the fears of European leaders following the election of his successor Donald Trump last week.
At a press conference following 90-minute talks with Obama, the Greek prime minister said it was vital that Greeks began to feel the effects of the sacrifices they have made in recent years.
"After seven years the Greek people cannot bear any more austerity," he told reporters. "Greece deserves debt relief and the time is now. President Obama and I discussed a number of issues specifically the important potential of investment in Greece and the future of Greece with its shipping power becoming an important centre for trade, transport and energy."
2.41pm GMT
But the signs of US economic strength question the need for any fiscal stimulus, says Dr Harm Bandholz, chief US economist at UniCredit Research:
The consumption strength (and the related good performance of the US economy in the second half of 2016) has important policy implications.
First, and most straightforward, it allows the Fed to stay on course for a rate hike at the upcoming meeting in mid-December.
2.36pm GMT
The strong US retail sales figures have only added to the expectation that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in December. Rob Carnell, chief international economist at ING Bank, said a hike next month was almost in the bag:
Strong US retail sales, and an expectation of further gains in inflation (due out on November 17) make the 92% market probability for a 14 December Fed rate hike look about right (nothing is 100% until it is done).
Not only were headline retail sales figures strong at +0.8% month on month, but there were strong core figures (control group which strips out the more volatile items also rose 0.8% month on month). The figures were stronger than the consensus expected (+0.6% month on month), and stronger still when upwards revisions to the previous months' data are taken into account.
2.21pm GMT
While Mark Carney was delighting MPs by doling out party invitations, the US released better than forecast retail sales figures for October.
According to the Commerce Department, retail sales rose 0.8% last month compared to September, with a particularly strong performance from the car industry. On top of that, building materials were also in demand, perhaps due to households hit by Hurricane Matthew having to rebuild and repair damage. The year on year rise was 4.3%.
2.16pm GMT
Mark Carney was on rather jolly form as he faced MPs today, perhaps happy that the issue of his term length was finally resolved last month. But what did we actually learn?
I think it is very important to distinguish between the stance of monetary policy and the reasons why global interest rates are low, the reasons why inequality have increased across major economies.
The last two are caused by much more fundamental factors and an excessive focus on monetary policy in many respects is a massive blame deflection exercise.
There is a practical reality, which is I'll be separated from my family for that extra period of extension so there are limits, reasonable limits to what that would be.
I will leave June 30th 2019.
Inflation is going up.
The pass through from a 20 percent fall in the trade weighted level of sterling is going to come,it's going to build towards the end of this year into 2017 and in our expectation, be above 2 percent by the middle of 2017 and stay there for a while because of that pass through.
If the time to exit is measured in 18 months or less and the degree of exit is viewed as considerable then a number of those firms would take decisions, that's the best guidance I can give.
1.39pm GMT
Mark Carney ends the meeting by returning to his theme that there is a "blame exercise" underway, with central banks being labelled as the only cause of problems in the economy today.
He says that only politicians can really tackle inequality - his job is to help create economic stability and stable inflation.
We're going to have to run exeptionally loose monetary policy
We are going to continually make clear that we can't make the structural changes that will drive productivity.
*CARNEY: IT WOULD BE WELCOME TO RAISE INTEREST RATES
1.33pm GMT
And finally, Steve Baker tries to get himself swiftly dis-invited from the Bank of England Christmas party, by asking:
Q: Have you lost the plot?
I do not accept the line of thought that central banks should not focus on their remit. They should tighten policy in order to force governments to take tough decisions.
That's straying from the mandate. That's political.
1.18pm GMT
Rees-Mogg asks whether the Bank's latest (more optimistic) economic forecasts will affect economic growth, in the same way that Mark Carney's statement immediately after the Brexit vote helped shore up confidence (in the bank's view, anyway)
Tiptoeing carefully, Carney suggests that forecast changes don't have as much impact on consumers as actual interest rate changes (or commitments to act).
1.07pm GMT
Finally, Jacob Rees-Mogg gets to question the Bank of England.
Rees-Mogg is one of Mark Carney's toughest critics, and recently suggested the governor should resign for his comments before the Brexit vote.
BREAKING: Mark Carney has invited arch nemesis Jacob Rees-Mogg to the Bank of England's Xmas party
12.54pm GMT
Mark Carney has challenged politicians to implement 'major' structural economic reforms.
Otherwise, we could be stuck with low interest rates for decades.
*CARNEY: LOW-RATE TRAP MAY PERSIST DECADES UNLESS MAJOR REFORMS
BOE Gov #Carney: monetary policy is not "loose"; global equilibrium interest rates low & could be "trapped" here for decades without reforms
12.48pm GMT
Mark Carney says that only 4% of companies with a pension deficit say that current low interest rates are causing a problem.
Q: But you at the Bank of England have just boosted the contributions into your own final salary scheme, says Helen Goodman.
12.40pm GMT
Back in parliament, Helen Goodman MP challenges the Bank of England over its QE scheme.
Q: By pushing down bond yields, you've damaged defined benefit pension schemes and forced them to put more money to cover deficits,
12.32pm GMT
Breaking away from Mark Carney.... over in Greece, president Barack Obama has arrived in Athens.
Security is extra right in the Greek capital; there's a complete lockdown, with protests banned, public transport stopped, schools closed down,.
Air Force One touches down in #Athens for #obama_athens visit
(screen shot from ERT Pool via @AP Direct) pic.twitter.com/6zNUOXgBvO
Obama arrives in Greece at start of his final foreign tour https://t.co/WrLutOiwcV pic.twitter.com/BmDsm6UpqC
Happening now: Obama meets with Greece's president in Athens on his final foreign tour pic.twitter.com/ygETv07JFa
Obama and Tsipras sit down pic.twitter.com/MUNHfto5Rd
12.24pm GMT
Andrew Tyrie takes Carney back to the slump in sterling since the Brexit vote, and tries to get him to admit that a weak pound is a good thing.
Q: Was the fall in the exchange rate welcome?
Carney ought to say: given the revision down in our expected future income, and the increased riskiness of the UK, fall in was inevitable
And to have fought against it with monetary policy would have triggered a recession. That's the answer to Tyrie's question.
12.20pm GMT
Mark Carney hands out a brief economics lesson, insisting that the relationship between the money supply and inflation is 'non-existant'.
Some of the MPs look unconvinced; maybe remembering Margaret Thatcher's zeal for monetarism (which encouraged her government to hike interest rates and trigger the deep recession of the early 80s).
12.05pm GMT
Carney says there's no 'precise number' that shows the limit of the Bank's tolerance for higher inflation (so no new forward guidance today!).
It all depends why inflation is moving - including whether the public's inflation expectations have risen.
11.51am GMT
Carney says that inflation in October was lower than expected (as we covered this morning) mainly due to short-term effects in the clothing market.
But... he insists that inflation is going to rise in the months ahead, as the weaker pound pushes up the price of imported goods.
Mark Carney, asked by @RachelReevesMP why falling & rising import prices weren't yet feeding into much higher inflation: "It's coming"
#Carney: inflation rises to 2% by mid 2017 due to weak Pound: 60% passes thru to producer prices over 6-9 mos, longer to hit consumer prices
Carney is talking about pass throughs from sterling to inflation by referencing toblerones. Well done everyone.
11.43am GMT
Boom! Mark Carney suggests that City firms could start executing plans to leave London in autumn 2017, if they are disappointed by the early shape of the government's Brexit deal.
He tells the committee:
If the time to exit is measured in 18 months, or less, and the degree of exit is considerable, then a number of firms will take decisions.
CARNEY SAYS WHEN TIME TO EXIT EU IS 18 MTHS & IMPACT OF BREXIT IS CONSIDERABLE, THEN FINANCIAL SERVICES FIRMS MAY TRIGGER CONTINGENCY PLANS
11.37am GMT
Q: What steps is Britain's financial sector taking for Brexit?
Carney says that firms in the core of the financial sector, such as banks and insurance firms, are making contingency plans.
As they follow those plans, hard decisions will be taken.
But I would stress, to those firms, that it is very early days. So planning makes sense, action is in general precipitous.
11.33am GMT
"Our view is that it's still early days [for Brexit]", Mark Carney says.
Article 50 hasn't been triggered yet, and we don't know if there will be a transition period afterwards.
11.30am GMT
Wes Streeting MP takes Mark Carney into the details of Brexit.
Carney says that the financial markets have taken a more downbeat view of Brexit than consumers.
11.24am GMT
Sky News's Ed Conway makes an important point -- until this morning, we didn't know that former chancellor George Osborne had asked Mark Carney to serve three more years.
Carney reveals @George_osborne asked him earlier this year to extend his term to a full eight years
11.23am GMT
John Mann: How can the Bank of England plan for Brexit when no-one knows what it will mean?
We certainly don't know what the eventual shape of Brexit will be, agrees MPC member Michael Saunders.
11.14am GMT
John Mann MP now challenges Mark Carney over the composition of his monetary policy committee.
Q: Wouldn't a trade union economist being some much-needed industry experience, to help the Bank understand the economy.
11.12am GMT
Andrew Tyrie jabs at Carney, suggesting he's uttering 'Delphic' words over forward guidance.
The guidance is that there isn't any guidance, right?
Tyrie tells Mark Carney central bankers are guilty of "Delphic utterances". "Your capacity to create a theology is boundless"
11.05am GMT
Conservative MP Kit Malthouse asks Mark Carney to explain the position with forward guidance (the governor's famous policy of pledging not to raise interest rates until the economy has reached a certain point).
Carney gives a long explanation of forward guidance (which began by not promising to raise rates until unemployment fell below 7%). He says these pledges helped to underpin confidence and support the economy.
#BOE Gov Mark #Carney confirms interest rates can now go up or down: "neutral bias: monetary policy is appropriate" https://t.co/DdIrd2Kc05
10.53am GMT
Tyrie mischievously turns Carney's attention over the Atlantic, suggesting that Donald Trump and Theresa May share the same concerns over central banks.
Q: Trump has been "pretty critical of the Fed", hasn't he?
It's very important to distinguish between the stance of monetary policy and the reasons why global interest rates are low, the reasons why inequality has increased across major economics.
Those are caused by much more fundamental factors. And an excessive focus on monetary policy in many respects is a massive blame deflection exercise.
Mark Carney says those politicians complaining about low rates from central banks are engaged in a "massive blame deflection exercise"...
10.47am GMT
Q: Do you think that the fact that central banks are responsible for such a huge range of activities today puts you in a position where you are more vulnerable to criticism, such as over Brexit?
Carney plays this ball safely.
10.44am GMT
Q: Did Theresa May's apparent criticism of central banks in her recent conference speech influence your decision to only serve another 12 months?
No, Carney replies.
10.37am GMT
Mark Carney denies that the uncertainty over his departure date has created uncertainty.
There are "far bigger issues' in the UK economy, and the global economy, than my term lengths, he says.
10.35am GMT
Mark Carney's grilling at the Treasury Committee is underway.
Chairman Andrew Tyrie asks the Bank of England governor how much uncertainty has been caused by his decision to initially only serve five years, and then extend it by 12 months. Wouldn't it be better to keep governors to fixed terms of eight years?
10.20am GMT
While we wait for Mr Carney, there's time to flag up that UK house prices rose by 7.7% in the 12 months to September.
That matches August's reading, with houses in the south of England driving the market up.
UK house prices grew at a healthy 7.7%y/y clip in September. East of England led the way with 12.1%y/y growth while N. East at only 1.5%y/y. pic.twitter.com/LSet77CLtj
"We now have three months of post-Brexit official housing figures, which show price growth remaining robust, but fewer properties changing hands. At the start of the year, we expected slower house price growth, but in fact it has shown impressive resilience: in the first three quarters of the year average annual house prices were up by around 8% across the UK compared to the same period last year.
"But high prices are causing some buyers to stay out of the market altogether. The ONS data show residential transactions in September were just 93,000, 11.3% lower than the previous year. This implies that underlying demand may be weakening as property becomes less and less affordable."
10.14am GMT
Bank of England governor Mark Carney is due to give evidence to the Treasury Committee in parliament now, on the Bank's latest quarterly inflation report.
10.11am GMT
Newsflash from Brussels: the eurozone economy grew by 0.3% in the third quarter of this year, matching Q2's growth rate.
Although Germany and France only grew by 0.2%, Italy expanded by 0.3% and the Netherlands and Spain both posted healthy growth of 0.7%.
Euro area GDP +0.3% in Q3 2016, +1.6% compared with Q3 2015 #Eurostat - https://t.co/IYKjKoK4hg pic.twitter.com/ELfGUzo4PN
10.04am GMT
A string of economist are predicting that Britain's inflation rate will keep rising in the months ahead, despite dropping to 0.9% in October.
Tom Stevenson, investment director for personal investing at Fidelity International, says
"The expected rise in inflation paused for breath today as higher fuel prices were offset by slower rises in the price of clothes and university fees and cheaper hotel stays.
"Against all expectations, the CPI rose by just 0.9% in the year to October, slightly lower than September's 1% increase. However prices are still rising faster than at any time since late 2014. The rise in prices continue to be driven by sterling's recent weakness which has raised the cost of imported fuel and food.
In our estimates it will be the early part of the New Year that sees the majority of the price rises. Retailers are some of the smartest companies out there and they know it would be suicide to hike prices now pre-Christmas.
Of course, the tightness of budgets in the retail environment means that any price rises are going to be painful - and low cost operators and discounters will be ready to pounce - but they will have to come or we will likely see additional seasonal and structural unemployment increases in 2017."
No use talking about inflation now IMO. It will be the New Year that sees the price rises as retailers cave to input pressures.
While inflation eased last month there is a ticking time bomb in the PPI data, which measures the costs of goods for manufacturers. And here there is a sign that much higher consumer inflation is on its way.
The ONS data showed factory gate prices for goods produced by UK manufacturers rose 2.1% in the year to October 2016, which was a sharp jump from the 1.3% in the year to September 2016.
Oct surge in #UK producer input & output #prices suggest dip seen in consumer price #inflation to 0.9% in Oct will prove a brief respite
9.57am GMT
We shouldn't get carried away by this inflation slowdown - it will surely only be temporary.
The detail of today's report shows that Britain's CPI rate dipped last month because clothing prices had jumped sharply a year earlier, in October 2015.
Clothing and footwear: the downward effect came mainly from garments (in particular women's outerwear), for which prices rose by 0.2% between September and October 2016, compared with a larger rise of 2.3% a year earlier. It is important to note that this followed a relatively large increase in prices in September 2016, which resulted in an upward contribution to the change in the rate of a similar magnitude to the downward effect seen in October.
Education: charges, overall, rose by 2.0% between September and October this year compared with a larger rise of 3.6% between the same 2 months a year ago. The downward contribution came principally from UK and EU student tuition fees, where the impact from the rise in the cap for tuition fees (first introduced for new students in England in 2012) was smaller this year than in 2015. This was because nearly all students are already paying the higher rate of fees whereas last year the fees for fourth year courses rose to the higher rates. In addition there were more modest price increases for part-time and postgraduate fees compared with last year.
9.51am GMT
Today's figures also show that Britain's manufacturers are suffering from a hefty dose of inflation, due to the weak pound.
Britain's Producer Prices index spiked by 4.6% in October - the biggest monthly rise on record.
UK inflation posts surprise fall in October, but watch this space. Producer prices for raw material & oil +4.6%, biggest monthly rise ever.
Weak inflation this month. But higher prices incoming. ONS says imported goods prices up 14.1% in yr to Sep. Biggest increase since Sep 2011
9.46am GMT
This chart shows how Britain's CPI rate dipped, after jumping in September:
9.38am GMT
The pound is falling sharply, as traders react to today's inflation report.
Sterling has lost three-quarters of a cent, to $1.241 against the US dollar.
Pound falls against dollar after CPI inflation rate unexpectedly drops to 0.9% https://t.co/DvOCJLkTMI pic.twitter.com/uK3NyYv78Z
9.36am GMT
The Office for National Statistics says cheaper clothing helped to drive the UK inflation rate down last month, countering a rise in fuel costs.
The main downward contributors to the change in the rate were prices for clothing and university tuition fees, which rose by less than they did a year ago, along with falling prices for certain games and toys, overnight hotel stays and non-alcoholic beverages.
These downward pressures were offset by rising prices for motor fuels, and by prices for furniture and furnishings, which fell by less than they did a year ago.
9.31am GMT
Breaking! Britain's inflation rate has fallen!
The consumer prices index only rose by 0.9% in October, new figures show, compared with 1.0% in September.
9.20am GMT
Here's Fiona Cincotta of City Index explaining why the bond market rout has taken a break this morning:
The turmoil in the bond market appears to be pausing for breath, which is quite typical after the moves we have seen.
The global bond market has sold off at an extraordinary rate since Trump won the presidential race 6 days ago and is currently on track for its worst monthly decline since 2003.
9.18am GMT
The bond markets are calmer this morning, as investors take a breather after several days of falls.
Government bond prices have recovered in early trading, pulling yields down from yesterday's highs.
9.08am GMT
Good news from Italy! Its economy has returned to growth, with GDP expanding by 0.3% in the last quarter.
That means the Italian economy has beaten expectations - and beaten Germany, whose 0.2% growth rate looks even more sluggish now.
Italy GDP Growth Rate https://t.co/XebmdJYjsO pic.twitter.com/qYFZoDmVTc
Italian GDP expanded by 0.3% QoQ in Q3. Not exactly booming, but still better than expected.
@fwred and all the more welcome as is the only one to (just) beat forecasts among all the Europe Q3 GDP data today
Italian GDP rises 0.3 per cent in the third quarter, beating expectations - boost for Renzi pre-referendum
The latest polls show the 'No' in the Italian referendum extending lead to 5%+. Given pollsters' performance I guess there's still a chance. pic.twitter.com/jw7KAdMKjc
8.54am GMT
Just in! The Netherlands has beaten Germany, by posting growth of 0.7% in the third quarter of the year:
Boom! Netherlands GDP 0.7% g/q, 2.4% y/y! Although housing investment still high, growth primarily driven by household consumption & exports pic.twitter.com/6oYmOzWPP6
8.52am GMT
Economists are blaming Germany's slowdown on the impact of Britain's vote to leave the EU.
The slump in the pound since June has made German goods less competitive in Britain, and also dented confidence across the global economy. So this would explain why exports fell between July and September, pulling German growth down to 0.2%.
"Brexit meets solid domestic economy. This is probably the best description of the German economic performance during the third quarter."
"If Germany's single most important trading partner, the U.S., really moves towards more protectionism, this would definitely leave its mark on German growth."
"One had expected a little more economic activity in the third quarter. But the signs for the final quarter are looking good.
8.36am GMT
Not so good for Germany as GDP only increased by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter https://t.co/sY6yrXu5Kr Imagine if the UK had done that!
8.30am GMT
Europe's stock markets are mainly creeping higher this morning:
8.22am GMT
Britain's FTSE 100 index has jumped by 46 point at the start of trading.
Supermarket group Tesco has jumped by 3%, after new data shows sales growing at their fastest rate since 2013:
Tesco benefits from fastest sales growth in three years: https://t.co/swFqRW29i3 Grocery share data from our @KWP_UK #grocery #data #Tesco pic.twitter.com/ZBHReFMig8
Kantar data boosts supermarkets: Wm Morrison (+3.3%) Tesco (+3%). Sainsbury (+2.6%) https://t.co/zVV9dmX1HR
8.14am GMT
Jeroen Blokland of Robeco Asset Management is also concerned that Germany's economy has faltered:
Uh-oh, #Germany's #GDP growth disappoints at 0.2% in Q3, slowest in a year. pic.twitter.com/iDEIFiJubA
7.59am GMT
Analysts at Citi reckon Germany's economy suffered from the shock of Britain's vote to leave the EU:
Acc to Citi, #Brexit uncertainty is to blame for German GDP growth slowdown. "#Germany did experience significant spill-over from UK shock." pic.twitter.com/KdfUzr3vEA
7.54am GMT
Germany's weak performance may drag down the wider eurozone growth rate, which is published at 10am.
Figures released earlier this month suggested euro area GDP expanded by 0.3%, but Holger Sandte of Nordea Markets fears that could be too optimistic.
German #GDP growth of 0.2% q/q in Q3 makes 0.3 for the Euro area pretty likely
Rollercoaster ride ends with a soft landing. German GDP growth slows down to 0.2% QoQ in third quarter.
#Germany disappoints. GDP grew by 0.2% QoQ in Q3 vs 0.3% expected & down from 0.4% in Q2 & 0.7% in Q1 as net exports contributes negatively. pic.twitter.com/kFgh13xEgN
7.33am GMT
Bad news: Germany's economy has suffered a surprise slowdown, with growth halving in the last three months as foreign trade waned.
The eurozone's largest economy only expanded by 0.2% in the third quarter of this year, figures just released show.
Foreign trade had a downward effect on growth. Exports were slightly down while imports were slightly up compared with the second quarter of 2016.
7.17am GMT
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial market, the eurozone and business.
There's lots happening today, both in the financial world and the markets.
Fears about the inflationary potential of Donald Trump's planned tax cuts and infrastructure spending have sent shock waves through the world's bond markets, as investors take fright at the prospect of higher than expected interest rates in the years ahead.
Central banks are braced to suffer fresh losses on their vast holdings of government debt after the sell-off that saw $1tn wiped off the value of bonds last week intensified on Monday.
Related: Global bonds slump as Trump prompts inflation fears
Related: Barack Obama calls for 'meaningful debt relief' for Greece
Athens locked down as police focus on terror concerns during Obama visit https://t.co/VKFX5OU65b pic.twitter.com/xs379IVZxo
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