Forexpros – The euro zone’s economy stagnated in the first three months of 2012, recording no growth, official preliminary data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, Eurostat said that the euro zone’s gross domestic product was flat during the first quarter of 2012, defying expectations for a contraction of 0.2%.
The euro zone’s economy shrank by 0.3% in the preceding quarter.
Year-on-year, euro zone GDP was flat compared to a year earlier, confounding expectations for a 0.2% decline, after expanding at a rate of 0.7% in the previous quarter.
Following the release of that data, the euro remained higher against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD rising 0.21% to trade at 1.2849.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were off the highest levels of the session. The EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.2%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.45%, Germany’s DAX eased up 0.1%, while London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.25%.
Forexpros
