The growing reliance on multinationals to underpin the tax base remains the key threat to the economy and the Government finances in the face of geopolitical risks and recent 'de-globalisation' trends

Amid the political noise, the past week has also been marked by relatively dovish commentary from European Central Bank members

Data points to slowing growth momentum across the key economies, including the eurozone and the UK, with the manufacturing sector, in particular, moving back into contraction territory in many regions

Markets are selling off French assets, with the large banks particularly impacted

Uptick in services may embolden the hawks at the ECB to push for a more gradual decline in rates following the expected 25 basis point cut on Thursday

At a sectoral level, the out-turn was mixed, with nine sectors seeing annual increases and five sectors falling. 

While some bumps in the road to a sustainable 2% inflation rate can be expected, the broader drivers of the inflationary surge in recent years have now largely dissipated

Governor Andrew Bailey noted there would likely be a need for rate cuts over the coming quarters and these could be to a greater degree than currently priced into market rates

The main focus this week will be on the upcoming Fed monetary policy decision

Energy price falls have been helping to reduce annual consumer inflation for much of the past year, but these base effects are likely to wash through the data very soon, and could even push up inflation once more if the recent trend in oil prices persists