Euro zone growth positive in the fourth quarter

• GDP rose by 0.3% in the euro zone and by 0.4% in European Union in the fourth quarter better than the second quarter by 0.1% in both. GDP grew by 0.9% YoY in Euro zone and 1.4% YoY in European Union.

• In 2014 GDP grew by 0.9% in the Euro zone.

• ECB yesterday projected the growth of Euro zone to be 1.5% this year and 1.9% in 2016 and 2.1% in 2017. Current growth is still weak compared to US (2.4% for 2014) and UK (2.7% for 2014).

• Strongest growth is seen in Estonia (1.1%) followed by Germany (0.7%) and Spain (0.7%).

• Growth remained weak in Cyprus (-0.7%) followed by Greece (-0.4%), Austria (-0.2%) and Finland (0.2%).

• Growth in France and Italy remained below the average of Euro zone.

No impact is expected today as NFP report looms ahead, however recent data is pointing to recovery in Euro zone but in divergence. The stronger countries are expected to enjoy better stock and bond market performance over the medium term.