The economic activity in the Eurozone unexpectedly fell in April, reinforcing the concerns about the health of the regional economy, showed preliminary data on Friday.
The report of the Markit market research group said that the Eurozone composite PMI index (production and services) fell to 53.0 in April from 53.1 in March, confounding forecasts about a growth to 53.2.
The index of business activity in the services sector rose to 53.2 this month from 53.1 in March, while there was expected a growth to 53.3.
The index of business activity in the manufacturing sector dropped this month to 51.5 from 51.6 in March. Analysts had expected the April index to rise to 51.8.
Here is how you should read this index: a figure above 50.0 indicates the improvement of the state, and when it is below then there is a drop.
Commenting on the report, the Markit chief economist, Chris Williamson, said: "The Eurozone economy in April continued its slow growth, the PMI once again points to a GDP growth of only 0.3% at the beginning of the second quarter, as a whole corresponding with the low growth which is currently projected for the whole year."
Williamson said that the rate of growth is unlikely to accelerate as the economy of France has a strong resistance to growth in the region.
He noted that employment growth and price increases occur due to low interest rates.
"Therefore, more aggressive measures may be needed for a sustainable recovery and strengthening of inflationary pressures," - concluded Williamson.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1280, bouncing from 1.1278 which preceded the release of data, while the EUR/GBP pair was traded at 0.7867, down from 0.7870.
Meanwhile, the European stock markets opened lower. EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.39%, DAX fell 0.47%, the French CAC 40 lost 0.36%, and Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.79%.