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Sterling surged 0.17 per cent against the euro to £1.1357 in mid-morning trading as highly anticipated economic data from the continent fed through. France was the first to report, posting

GDP growth of 0.5 per cent between July and September and inflation of 1.2 per cent in the year to October, both of which were slightly ahead of traders' predictions. Data was more

mixed for the whole Eurozone, however, with GDP up 0.6 per cent between June and September - slightly up on market expectations - while inflation undershot predictions at 1.4 per cent for

the year to October. This will be a concern for the European Central Bank, which last week cut its money printing programme in half in anticipation of continued strong economic data, with

weak inflation flagged as a potential stumbling block that might lead to a reverse of the bank's decision.   Italy, however, disappointed traders - posting below expectation inflation

of -0.2 per cent for October, pushing full year predictions to just 1 per cent. This puts the breakers on a strong period for Europe's third largest economy, which has enjoyed a slew of

positive news in recent weeks, including a hike in its sovereign rating to 'BBB' by ratings agency S&P on Friday. Italy's benchmark 10-year bond yield fell to 1.837 per

cent on Tuesday morning, its lowest level Since January. This is down 0.33 per cent on the the month, marking the biggest 30-day drop since July 2015, according to Reuters and Tradeweb.

Sterling was up slightly against the US dollar at £1.3204 as traders hold steady in anticipation of big news out of the US this week, including the Federal Reserve's interest rate

decision on Wednesday and national employment figures on Friday. However, the dollar did slip to an 11-day low against the Japanese yen, as FBI investigators probing Russia's

involvement in the recent US election charged President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort with money laundering - turning investors cautious.