Investing.com - Euro zone economic growth expanded at a slightly slower than expected rate in the first quarter according to preliminary data released on Wednesday, but remained solid, indicating that the recovery in the region is gaining traction.
The European statistics agency Eurostat said euro area gross domestic product grew 0.4% in the first three months of the year, up from 0.3% in the final quarter of 2014 but slightly below forecasts for growth of 0.5%.
On a year-over-year basis, GDP grew 1.0% after a 0.9% expansion in three months to December. Economists had forecast growth of 1.1%.
The French economy grew 0.6% in the first quarter, the fastest rate of growth in two years.
Germany’s economy, the euro area’s largest, grew 0.3% in the first quarter, slowing from 0.7% in the previous quarter.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1208 from around 1.1227 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/JPY was at 134.26 from 134.49 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained broadly higher. London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.72%, France's CAC 40 was up 0.72%, while Germany's DAX added 0.87%.