STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 25 January 2012

[Ghost Dog]

17. UK Economy heads for recession with fall in Q4 GDP

(Reuters) - Britain's economy edged closer to recession in the last three months of 2011, after output contracted for the first time in a year, official data showed on Wednesday...

... The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product fell 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter after growing by 0.6 percent in the third quarter of 2011 - worse than economists' forecasts for a 0.1 percent contraction...

... On the year, fourth-quarter output was 0.8 percent higher, flattered by a sharp fall in output in the year-ago quarter due to heavy snow. The fourth-quarter contraction in output follows a 0.25 percent decline in German GDP, and if UK output falls in the first three months of 2012, Britain will enter its second recession in three years.

The figures increase the chance that the Bank of England will approve a further 50 billion pounds of quantitative easing in February, once the current 75 billion pounds of purchases started in October are complete.

/... http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/01/25/uk-britain-economy-idUKTRE80N0KE20120125