Today is another good start to the day in Europe. We've been getting used to this kind of positive mornings because the economic data has improved considerably in Europe, but it's still nice to have some good numbers to start the day. 

German factory orders increased by 1.2% against 0.2% expected, while the French factory orders jumped from -0.5% previously, to 1.9%. 

Even the French budget deficit shrank this time. But we can't say the same about the UK. Yes, Italian retail sales declined by 0.1% but the part of the economic calendar which covers the UK is all blood red. 

So it's another great morning in Europe and a terrible one for the UK. But, we'll post a separate update for the terrible UK data this morning because it deserves a thorough look.