Euro zone 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 on Thursday.
But 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.
No change is expected when the ECB’s Governing Council announces its latest policy decision later on Thursday but there is a growing chance its billion-euro stimulus programme will be extended beyond a planned completion date of September 2016.