Eurozone indicators to be released this week will confirm the economy continued to grow at a modest pace in the first quarter, economists said.
Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands all publish data for first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP), followed by the first estimate for the eurozone as a whole on Friday.
"We hope to see a modest acceleration on the disappointing fourth quarter," said Investec economist Philip Shaw.
Eurozone GDP growth is expected to have picked up to 0.4 percent on a quarterly basis from a rate of 0.3 percent in the final quarter of 2003.
European Central Bank governor Jean-Claude Trichet said Thursday the economy continued to recover in early 2004 but at a moderate pace.
More recent information has been more encouraging, with the latest euro area survey data offering increasingly positive signals on trends at the beginning of the second quarter, he said.
BNP Paribas economists said that while the pace of growth probably remained similar in the first quarter, the structure of growth appeared to have changed.
Exports were likely to have accelerated as a result of strong global growth and the euro's downward correction, and consumer spending was likely to have made a positive contribution following recent more promising retail sales data, but the contribution from inventory building most likely declined, they said.
A detailed breakdown of the GDP data will only be released on June 1.
Germany is likely to have made a sluggish start to 2004, said Annemarieke Christian of Morgan Stanley.
The Bundesbank has already estimated the German economy grew around 0.25 percent in the first quarter, and the preliminary figure from the statistics office next week was likely to be 0.3 percent, economists said.
Lorenzo Codogno of Bank of America said net exports were likely to have made a positive contribution, while domestic demand is expected to have contracted.
Meanwhile, Italy remains close to stagnation, said Christian.
Italian GDP is projected to have risen just 0.1 percent after a flat reading in the previous quarter.
"The Italian economy is going through a difficult period, with export activity continuing to suffer in relative terms and domestic demand - including capital spending - still struggling," said Codogno.
France is expected to have outperformed Germany and Italy, with growth of 0.5 percent, but this will represent a deceleration from the 0.7 percent growth rate recorded in the fourth quarter of 2003.
The Bank of France has already forecast growth of 0.5 percent in both the first and the second quarters of 2004.
The Netherlands is also expected to see a continuation of modest growth, with the quarterly growth rate forecast to come in at 0.3 percent after 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter.
Consumer price data from the four main eurozone countries are likely to confirm that inflation jumped temporarily in April as a result of recent rises in oil prices and base effects.
In Britain, the Bank of England publishes its latest quarterly economic assessment next Wednesday with forecasts that are likely to give clues as to whether another hike is likely before inflation report in August.
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