Eurozone GDP growth and UK construction reports – business live

In other surprise corporate news, Marks & Spencer has snaffled Halford’s chief executive to revitalise its struggling clothing operation.

Jill McDonald will join M&S in the autumn as managing director for clothing, home and beauty. It’s the latest piece in CEO Steve Rowe’s turnaround plan.

Last year M&S suffered its worst fall in clothing sales in a decade, so there’s plenty for McDonald – who calls herself a longtime “M&S customer and professional fan” – to sort out….

Halford’s investors won’t be happy, though – shares are down almost 4% in early trading.

Big news in the City this morning: Adam Crozier, the boss of ITV, is leaving after a seven-year stint at the broadcaster.

He’s done a good job too, EBITA profits are up over 300% on his watch, and the shares have quadrupled thanks to the success of shows like Downton Abbey and X Factor.

Speculation has been swirling for some time that Crozier might be off; ITV reportedly hired headhunters in January to find a successor for the former head of the Football Association and Royal Mail.

But ITV haven’t yet announced his successor, and the company’s shares have just dropped by 2.2% at the start of trading.

My colleague Julia Kollewe explains:

Crozier, who led a turnaround at ITV after the post-credit crunch recession and successfully reduced the broadcaster’s reliance on advertising revenue by building up its production arm, said he planned to build a portfolio of roles in the next stage of his career.

The company’s finance director, Ian Griffiths, will step up to a new combined role of chief operating officer and finance chief and run the company for an interim period, while the chairman, Sir Peter Bazalgette, becomes executive chairman during that time.

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

After years of slow growth, austerity and bailout drama, is Europe’s economy now rattling ahead? We find out at 10am BST when eurozone GDP figures for the first three months of this year are released.

Economists predict that the euro economy grew by a punchy 0.5% in January to March, which would outpace Britain which only expanded by 0.3%.

Last week we learned that France’s economy only grew by 0.3%, while Spain managed a healthy 0.8%. Today’s report should give a wider picture of the currency bloc

Recent ‘soft’ data from the eurozone has been impressive, with factory growth at a six-year high. So this is the moment when we scrutinise the ‘hard’ data to see if the eurozone has really turned a corner.

RBC Capital Markets explain:

Euro area survey data has been universally strong since the turn of the year; the average composite PMI for Q1 was the highest in six years and is pointing to GDP growth of 0.5–0.6%.

However, harder data has yet to reflect the improved sentiment; outside Germany, industrial production is likely to be a drag on growth despite stronger manufacturing PMIs.

We also get another healthcheck on the UK building sector, at 9.30am.

The City expects a small slowdown in growth, with the construction PMI tipped to fall to 52.0 from 52.2. We’ll be looking for signs that builders are facing any impact from Brexit; perhaps through weaker demand, or a shortage of workers from overseas….

We’ll also be monitoring any fallout from the latest Greek agreement. As we covered yesterday, Athens has accepted even more cuts in return for fresh loans – and the promise of debt relief…..

European markets are expected to be subdued, after some solid gains in recent days.

Later, US Federal Reserve announces its decision on monetary policy at 7pm BST. But no change is expected, and there is isn’t a press conference scheduled.

On the corporate front, we’re getting results from supermarket chain Sainsbury’s, pub chain JD Wetherspoon’s, accountancy group Sage and insurance chain Direct Line.