Forexpros – The euro zone’s current account surplus widened more-than-expected in January, official data showed on Monday.
In a report, the European Central Bank said that the euro zone current account recorded a seasonally adjusted surplus of EUR4.5 billion in January, widening from a surplus of EUR3.4 billion in December, whose figure was revised from a surplus of EUR2.0 billion.
Economists had expected the region’s current account surplus to widen to EUR4.3 billion in January.
The report said that the 12-month cumulated seasonally adjusted current account recorded a deficit of EUR21.2 billion in January, approximately 0.2% of euro area gross domestic product, compared with a deficit of EUR50.6 billion a year earlier.
The reduction of the current account deficit resulted from increases in the surpluses for income, services and goods, as well as from a decrease in the deficit for current transfers.
Following the release of the data, the euro held on to modest losses against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD shedding 0.18% to trade at 1.3150.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were lower after the open. The EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.55%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.75%, Germany’s DAX declined 0.6%, while London’s FTSE 100 slumped 0.5%.
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