EU: Industrial Production in euro area contracts by 1.6% in December

• Industrial Production in euro area contracted sharply in December.
• EUR/USD clings to modest daily gains above 1.2130 on Monday.

The data published by the Eurostat showed on Monday that Industrial Production in the euro area contracted by 1.6% on a monthly basis in December. This reading followed November's expansion of 2.6% and came in worse than the market expectation for a decrease of 0.6%. On a yearly basis, Industrial Production declined by 0.8% in 2020. 

Other data from the euro area revealed on Monday that the trade surplus in December widened to €29.2 billion from €25.7 billion and beat analysts' estimate for a surplus of €25.3 billion.

Market reaction

The EUR/USD pair showed no immediate reaction to these figures and was last seen posting small daily gains at 1.2132.