Investing.com - The euro zone's M3 money supply grew less than expected in January, while private loans declined for the 34th consecutive month, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the European Central Bank said M3 money supply in the single currency bloc rose at annualized rate of 4.0% last month, below forecasts for a gain of 4.3%. M3 money supply in the euro zone rose 3.7% in the preceding month.
Loans to private sector declined at a pace of 0.1% annually in February, compared to expectations for a 0.1% increase, after falling 0.2% in January.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1035 from around 1.1032 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7373 from 0.7375 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained broadly lower. Germany's DAX dropped 1.6%, the EURO STOXX 50 tumbled 1.45%, France’s CAC 40 slumped 1.3%, while London’s FTSE 100 declined 1%.