Spain’s Q3 growth meets market expectations, Bank of Spain expects steady growth

The economic growth of Spain during the third quarter of this year remained cool, rising at the same pace as in the previous quarter, both on an annualized as well as quarterly basis, holding well in line with what markets had earlier anticipated. The central bank expects the economy to grow at the same pace through the rest of this year.

The gross domestic product of Spain expanded 0.7 percent in the three months through September, data released by the Madrid-based National Statistics Office showed Thursday, confirming an initial estimate. From a year ago, the Spanish economy grew 3.2 percent while adding about 499,000 new jobs, the report said.

Further, household consumption expanded 0.6 percent, slightly down from the previous quarter, while public expenditure, which had been held back due a 10-month political impasse, accelerated 1 percent. Construction picked up 0.2 percent for the quarter, compared to a 0.5 percent expansion in previous three months.

Economists expect some of the tailwinds to Spain's strong 2016 growth rate to ease next year, with oil prices expected to rise, while the pace of job growth is seen to slow and government budget cuts to also cool the economy in 2017. The Bank of Spain expects Spain's economy to expand by a slower, but still robust, 2.3 percent in 2017.

The EUR/USD currency pair rose 0.18 percent, following the release of the data, currently trading at 1.06, while at 9:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Euro Strength Index remained neutral at 14.72 (lower than the 75 benchmark for bullish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex