Investing.com - The euro zone’s current account surplus narrowed unexpectedly in December, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the European Central Bank said that the euro zone current account recorded a seasonally adjusted surplus of €17.8 billion in December, narrowing from a surplus of €19.9 billion in November.
Economists had expected the region’s current account surplus to widen to €23.3 billion in December.
The seasonally adjusted 12-month cumulated current account for the period ending in December recorded a surplus of €240.2 billion, 2.4% of euro area GDP, compared with one of €214.2 billion, 2.2% of euro area GDP for the previous 12-month period.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1442 from around 1.1433 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7405 from 0.7401 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained lower. The EURO STOXX 50 shed 0.2%, France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.1%, Germany's DAX inched down 0.2%, while London’s FTSE 100 declined 0.2%.