Eurozone growth at four-year high

Eurozone business activity accelerated at its fastest pace in more than four years last month as Italy turned in its best performance since early 2011 and German growth strengthened, surveys showed yesterday.

However, while those upbeat surveys will provide some welcome news for the European Central Bank, which is struggling to boost the economy and inflation, they still only point to modest third-quarter GDP growth.

The European Central Bank yesterday left interest rates at record lows as had been widely anticipated.