Markets wait for report on US GDP while Daimler is affected by the slowdown in the auto industry – live business | Business

Hello and welcome to our slippery coverage of the global economy, financial markets, the eurozone and businesses.

Donald Trump likes to boast of creating one of the greatest economies in America's history. Today, we discover how the United States really behaves under its watch.

The new GDP figures for the first quarter of 2019 are expected to show moderate growth, at an annual rate of about 2.3% (or almost 0.6% in a quarter / quarter pure).

This would be slightly higher than in the fourth quarter of 2018, when growth was revised downward last month, and slightly below Trump's 3% growth target.

The belligerent trade policy of the president and the closure of the federal government at the end of last year could have slowed growth. On the other hand, Trump's tax cuts may not have completely disappeared, which has supported consumer spending.

The figures are published at 13:30 BST, so that the markets could remain calm in the meantime.

American technology companies are doing well. Last night, Amazon announced that its profits had doubled in the last quarter, reaching $ 3.6 billion, a few hours after Microsoft became the third US company valued at more than a million dollars, after its own solid results.

But as the report on today's GDP shows, America is not limited to Silicon Valley …

Also to come:

The Royal Bank of Scotland publishes its results one day after the announcement of the departure of its managing director, Ross McEwan.

The group posted a net profit of £ 707 million, ahead of expectations but down from £ 808 million last year. The bank also warns that Brexit is confusing business.

British finance will show how many new mortgages were contracted in March. But the city might be wary after last month, when the industry initially said demand had hit its lowest level in five years before discovering a mistake in the numbers.

Presumably, today's numbers have been checked very carefully …

L & # 39; s calendar

• 9:30 am Paris time: UK Finance mortgage approval figures for March
• 13:30 (Paris time): US GDP for the first quarter of 2019