Forexpros – The euro zone current account swung to a wider-than-expected deficit in October, official data showed on Monday.
In a report, the European Central Bank said that the euro zone current account recorded a seasonally adjusted deficit of EUR7.5 billion in October, swinging from a surplus of EUR2.2 billion in September, whose figure was revised up from a EUR0.5 billion surplus.
Economists had expected the region’s current account to swing to a deficit of EUR1.9 billion in October.
The report said that the 12-month cumulated seasonally adjusted current account recorded a deficit of EUR58.7 billion in October, approximately 0.6% of euro area gross domestic product, compared with a deficit of EUR29.5 billion a year earlier.
The widening of the current account deficit resulted predominantly from a shift in the balance for goods from a surplus of EUR20.3 billion to a deficit of EUR14.4 billion.
Following the release of the data, the euro held on to losses against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD shedding 0.21% to trade at 1.3015.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were broadly lower after the open. The EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.35%, France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.3%, Germany’s DAX eased down 0.1%, while the FTSE 100 declined 0.5%.
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