Virus data cloud Q1 outlook, Italian politics in turmoil

While the economic data published this week were fairly encouraging about the euro-zone’s performance at the end of last year, the deterioration in the virus situation and associated tougher measures being imposed bode ill for Q1 GDP even if the vaccine rollout points to an improvement from Q2 onwards. Meanwhile, the ECB is likely to sit on its hands next week after last month’s decision to keep policy very loose for longer.