Euro area economic growth accelerates above expectations in Q1 2019

Euro area economic growth accelerated in the first quarter of this year. Eurostat’s advance estimate showed that the economy grew 0.4 percent quarter-on-quarter, as compared with consensus expectations of a growth of 0.3 percent.

Preliminary national figures indicate that French economy grew 0.3 percent, while the Italian economy grew 0.2 percent and the Spanish economy expanded 0.7 percent.

The data released for the months of January and February indicate towards a likely recovery in euro area industrial output in the first quarter, adding to the acceleration in the overall economic growth, noted Lloyds Bank in a research report. However, the sustainability is unclear.

Meanwhile, the data for France showed that an increase in inventories was a significant growth driver that might be reversed in the second quarter. However, latest survey evidence from the PMI hint at a softer underlying quarterly rate of growth in euro area of about 0.2 percent.

“Overall, while there are signs that economic growth in the Eurozone may be stabilising, it’s probably too early to judge the stronger Q1 figure as evidence of a sustained pickup in activity. For the year as a whole, we look for Eurozone GDP growth of 1.1 percent in line with the consensus forecast, compared with 1.8 percent in 2018 and 2.5 percent in 2017”, added Lloyds Bank.

At 11:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of Euro was slightly bullish at 63.3773 while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was highly bearish at -100.014 more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex