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Panethon eurozone economist Claus Vistesen isn't mincing his words on the French PMI figures.

He says they're "a dreadful set of numbers".

"New business in the private sector declined outright this month, thanks primarily to disruptions in the wake of the “gilets jaunes” protests, though the main problem in manufacturing appears to be weakness in the auto sector, rather than the protests as such," he says.

He says, however, assuming the worst of the protests are over, data should "pick up significantly" at the start of next year.

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The euro has fallen below $1.13 after weak French, German and other eurozone country PMI survey data.

Eurozone business ended the year on a weak note, expanding at the slowest pace in over four years as new order growth all but dried up, hurt by trade tensions and violent protests in France, the IHS Markit's Flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index suggested.

The index fell to 51.3 points, its weakest since November 2014.

"It's a relatively gloomy picture to end the year on. It's clear the underlying rate of growth has slowed further, and it is broad-based across manufacturing and services," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit.

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An Army recruitment drive has faced "significant problems" - including a website that cost three times its budget and was 52 months late, a National Audit Office report has found.

Outsourcing giant Capita was awarded the £495m contract for Army recruitment in 2012 - but has failed to hit soldier recruitment targets every year since.

Capita admitted it had "underestimated the complexity" of the project.

The Army said it had "put in place a plan to address the challenges".

Read more here.

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For the first time since the trade war between Washington and Beijing kicked off earlier this year, China has bought US soybeans.

The purchase of 1.13 million tonnes of American soybeans has been hailed as a "great step" by US officials.

Since the US-China trade war kicked off, one of the biggest casualties has been the US soybean sector. That's because China is by far the world's biggest importer of the product.

But Beijing's high tariffs placed on US soybeans this year has been severely hurting US farmers.

Read more here

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French luxury giant LVMH has snapped up high-end hotel group Belmond for a whopping $3.2bn (€2.8bn).

The firms say they expect the deal to be completed in the first half of next year, subject to approval by Belmond's shareholders and approval by the relevant competition authorities.

Belmond began over 40 years ago with the acquisition of Hotel Cipriani in Venice. It now owns and operates a collection of high-end hotels around the world as well as offering rail and river cruises.

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French business activity has sunk into contraction this month, retreating at the fastest pace in over four years, a closely-watched survey suggests.

IHS Markit said that its composite purchasing mangers index dropped to 49.3 points from 54.2 in November, sliding below the 50-point threshold between contraction and expansion for the first time since June 2016.

The reading is the lowest since November 2014 and well below economists' average expectation for 54 in a Reuters poll.

France's finance minister said at the weekend that the "yellow vest" protests had been "a catastrophe" for the French economy.

France has seen four consecutive weekends of demonstrations against fuel tax rises, high living costs and other issues.

Image source, Aggreko

Aggreko, the Scots-based temporary power provider, has won the supply contract for temporary electricity generation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The value of the supply contract is expected to be in the region of $200m, it says.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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Is that a rhetorical question? Critics say Theresa May's Irish border backstop plan could keep the UK tied to EU rules indefinitely and curb its ability to strike trade deals. But the EU says it won't renegotiate the backstop - it wants to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Mrs May had a meeting with EU leaders yesterday to try to come up with a plan appease her critics in parliament, and keep both sides happy.

However, Aleš Chmelař, the Czech Europe minister says:

"I do not expect there is a legally binding way to stop the backstop, or to limit the backstop, because then it would put into question assurances for Ireland. If the EU 27 has to choose between assurances for one of its members, and for a third state, it's obvious, that they would, and they have to, prefer assurances for one of its members."

"But there is a strong political understanding that the backstop will not even be triggered."

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Sir Richard Branson has warned that the UK will be left "near bankrupt" in the event of a hard Brexit.

He told the BBC he was "absolutely certain" that leaving the EU without a deal would lead to the closure of "quite a few British businesses".

He said Prime Minister Theresa May had admitted that her version of Brexit was not as good as staying in the EU.

"I think Theresa May needs to be 100% honest with the public," he said.

"She's admitted that a hard Brexit would be an absolute disaster for the British people.

"From our Virgin companies' point of view, a hard Brexit would torpedo some of our companies," he said, adding that Virgin Holidays would be hit as the pound would drop to parity and not many people would be able to afford to go abroad.

"If British business suffers, British people will suffer, and it's really really important that people realise that."

The FTSE 100 has just started trading and in the first few minutes it's not looking positive. It's currently 0.9% lower at 6,818.76.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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Theresa May met EU leaders last night in an attempt to get some concessions on the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

Aleš Chmelař (pictured right), the Czech Europe minister, was at Theresa May's presentation to the EU leaders and their dinner without her last night.

The meeting "did not find a solution" to the question of the Irish backstop, he says.

"It wasn't a bad meeting, it was a meeting where nobody knew beforehand what would be the solution, and I know that in the room there was a strong willingness to offer something, but at the same time it would put, most probably, into question the backstop for Ireland.

"So it was almost an impossible situation, and technically speaking, there was not an easy way out," he says.

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UK engineering firm Balfour Beatty says its full year performance will better-than-expected thanks to a £65m boost from the sale of infrastructure investments.

The company behind Crossrail and the transformation of the former Olympic Stadium into West Ham's ground, says its focus on turning around the firm's fortunes in 2015 has paid off.

"We have consistently invested in our capabilities, systems and leadership while de-risking the business, strengthening the balance sheet and selectively building the order book," says chief executive Leo Quinn., external

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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The current political turmoil and uncertainty over Brexit means small businesses are starting to increase Brexit planning, says Craig Beaumont of the Federation of Small Businesses.

"We are now seeing a number of companies stockpiling... for their raw materials... you'll see that the cost of that, because of the pound being lower, is now more expensive, if they're stockpiling materials from overseas. And you're also seeing people work out how to mitigate any criss-cross border trade," he says.

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The owner of the Mirror and Express newspapers says trading has improved in the fourth quarter , externaland it is confident that performance this year will be slightly ahead of mar

Reach, formerly known as Trinity Mirror, says it is confident that performance for 2018 will be "marginally ahead of market expectations".

Group revenue was up 23% in the fourth quarter, reflecting its recent takeover of the Express and Star titles from Richard Desmond.

On a like-for-like basis, however revenue is expected to drop 5%.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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Switzerland has more than 100 bilateral agreements with the European Union, which took more than 40 years to agree. Could we get a similar close relationship with the EU in just three and a half months?

Leave campaigner John Mills of consumer products firm JML, who is pushing for a "managed" no-deal Brexit, says: "You'd need to concentrate on the really big things quickly. Most of what needs to be there is in place already - we've got 100% alignment, for example, on goods regulations, and so you haven't got to start from a very disparate position."

It's still early so trading volumes are thin meaning movements are exaggerated, but the pound is already firmly lower.

It's currently 0.3% lower against the dollar and euro at $1.2616 and €1.1114 respectively.

At some UK airports, travellers are now barely being offered just one US dollar for each of their pounds.

Those exchanging pounds at the UK's biggest airport, Heathrow, are finding as little as $1.05 coming back across the counter, our research has found.