LONDON - Euro zone business activity remained lacklustre at the start of the year, a survey showed a day after the European Central Bank said the manufacturing sector remained a drag on the economy, but there were some glimmers of hope for policymakers. ECB rate-setters did not make any policy change on Thursday, standing by their pledge to keep buying bonds and, if needed, cut interest rates until price growth in the euro zone heads back to their goal. Still, the slowdown in euro zone economic activity has probably bottomed out, according to a Reuters poll last week, which showed while the outlook for growth and inflation remained lukewarm the chances of a recession have faded. [ECILT/EU] That outlook was somewhat supported by IHS Markit’s Euro Zone Composite Flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), seen as a good gauge of economic health, which held at 50.9 in January but missed the median prediction in a Reuters poll for 51.2.