Forexpros – The euro zone’s economy contracted in line with expectations in the final three months of 2011, unchanged from an initial estimate, revised data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, Eurostat said that the euro zone’s gross domestic product shrank by a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in the fourth quarter, in line with expectations and unchanged from a preliminary estimate.
Annualized GDP contracted at a rate of 0.7%, also in line with expectations and unrevised from an initial estimate.
During the fourth quarter of 2011, household consumption expenditure decreased by 0.4%, worse than expectations for a 0.2% decline.
Gross fixed capital formation fell by 0.7%, compared to expectations for a drop of 0.4%.
Exports dropped by 0.4%, while imports slumped 1.2%.
Following the release of that data, the euro remained lower against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD shedding 0.31% to hit 1.3177.
Meanwhile, European stock markets held on to steep losses. The EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 1.25%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 1.15%, Germany’s DAX slumped 1.3%, while London’s FTSE 100 declined 0.85%.
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