Terry Murden: Positive signs but too early for bunting and balloons MORE positive data on the economy is expected this week, daring us to ask if we are about to see a spring bounce. More positive data on the economy is expected this week, daring us to ask if we are about to see a spring bounce. March has often heralded a turning point. It marked the bursting of the dotcom bubble in 2000, the beginning of an equities slump in 2002 and the springboard for the five-year boom in shares which kicked off in 2003. The FTSE 100 hit a new low of 3,512 in March 2009 before mounting a 73 per cent rally over the following two years. On those trends, it ought to burst through 6000 any time soon. This week's data will not declare the good times are back again, and will certainly contain some mixed messages, but the services and retail sectors are probably over the worst and housebuilding companies have been reporting decent figures, There were also headlines yesterday suggesting the recovery is under way in the battered eurozone as new fiscal rules were agreed to curb government borrowing and banks have been shored up with ¤530 billion of cheap loans from the European Central Bank. Bond yields have fallen and the financial markets are responding, with the banking sector seemingly avoiding the risk of a major failure. The FTSE 350 banks" index is up 22 per cent so far this year. No-one should pretend it's anything but tough out there and with austerity measures still to come there is damage still to be done. Unemployment will continue rising at least for the rest of this year and it may require further stimulus from the Bank of England and the Chancellor George Osborne, in his forthcoming Budget, to edge the recovery along, The German chancellor Angela Merkel warned that it was still a little early to be ordering the bunting and balloons. We've got so used to hearing that we're all doomed, that it will take more than one batch of figures to convince us that we can finally throw away our tin hats and come out of the shelter. However, the chances of Britain returning to recession are receding and the positive signals could encourage companies to invest some of the cash they've been hoarding and give consumers the confidence to start spending again. Rumours energise Parkmead shares AT THE fledgling end of the stock market, shares in energy tiddler Parkmead have been surging on the back of more speculation that a transformational deal is imminent. The Abderdeen-based company is hardly a household name, but is noteworthy for the presence on the board of Tom Cross, executive chairman, who built Dana Petroleum into a powerful player in the North Sea before selling it to the Korea National Oil Corporation for £1.9bn and making some of its investors very wealthy. Those now piling into Parkmead, a shell that he's turned into an asset buying vehicle, are hoping he'll repeat the trick. He has taken his time but finally acquired stakes in four fields in the region and other assets that have brought Parkmead to the notice of the sector's bigger players. There have been persistent rumours since last autumn of a tie-up with Ithaca Energy, which has just confirmed it is in takeover talks. Enquest, Dana/KNOC and Taqa have been mentioned as suitors, but Parkmead could also be in the mix. Parkmead shares were heavily traded on Friday, rising 19.5 per cent to 22.25p and more volatility can be expected. click here to email tmurden@scotlandonsunday.com