Eurozone business activity picks up pace

Price cutting and a weaker currency helped eurozone business activity accelerate in February, according to surveys published just before the European Central Bank embarks on a trillion-euro stimulus programme.

Survey compiler Markit said the surveys pointed to first quarter GDP growth of 0.3%, the same as at the tail-end of 2014, as business activity expanded in the bloc’s four biggest economies for the first time since last April.

That growth prediction matches the median forecast in a Reuters poll taken last month.