Michael Hume Mixed Quotations

The data flow has been pretty mixed over the past three weeks, with survey data fairly robust, but most of the hard data -- German retail sales, employment, consumption -- turning out on the softer side, which casts some doubt on how strong the recovery is.

The ECB is right to hold back on guidance. Given the mixed data flow on growth, it cannot be confident that a series of rate hikes back to neutral is feasible at this stage in the way that the Federal Reserve was when it started to raise rates.