Friday preview: Germany's latest economic results

Germany, Europe's biggest lender, will hog the limelight Friday with the release of new economic data.

Munich-based Ifo Institute for Economic Research will unveil Germany's results under the Business Climate Index, an indicator for economic activity.

The Ifo will also reveal its current assessment and expectations for the country.

It comes as Germany's economy showed it was on track to improve this year.

"Germany is on course to grow in the first quarter, recovering from the 0.6% GDP [gross domestic product] fall seen in the fourth quarter, possibly expanding by as much as 0.4%," said Markit's chief economist Chris Williamson.

However, Markit's latest survey showed a downturn in the Eurozone purchasing managers' indices (PMIs) during February, driven by an unexpected slowdown in activity in Germany and France.

The Eurozone composite PMI index fell to 47.3 points from January's reading of 48.6, while the consensus had expected to find an improvement to 49.0 points.

"A steepening rate of decline in February is a disappointment, and suggests that the Eurozone is on course to contract for a fourth consecutive quarter in the first three months of the year," Williamson said.

"However, despite the fall in the PMI, the first quarter decline in the economy should be less severe than the 0.6% drop in GDP seen in the final quarter of 2012, with a contraction of 0.2-0.3% looking likely."

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INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS

IFO Business Climate (GER) (09:00)

IFO Current Assessment (GER) (09:00)

IFO Expectations (GER) (09:00)

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