Investing.com - The euro zone's M3 money supply grew more than expected in December, while private loans declined for the 32nd consecutive month, official data showed on Monday.
In a report, the European Central Bank said M3 money supply in the single currency bloc rose at annualized rate of 3.6% last month, above forecasts for a 3.5% gain. M3 money supply in the euro zone rose 3.1% in the preceding month.
Loans to private sector declined at a pace of 0.5% annually in December, compared to expectations for a 0.7% drop, after falling 0.9% in November.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1297 from around 1.1295 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7466 from 0.7467 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained lower. Germany's DAX slumped 0.7%, the EURO STOXX 50 shed 0.55%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.6%, while London’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.9%.