Forexpros - The euro zone's M3 money supply grew more-than-expected in January, official data showed on Monday. In a report, the European Central Bank said M3 money supply in the single currency bloc rose at annualized rate of 2.5% in January, above expectations for a gain of 1.8%. M3 money supply in the euro zone rose 1.5% in the preceding month, whose figure was revised down from 1.6%. The three-month average of the annual growth rates of M3 in the period from November to January stood at 2.0%, unchanged from the previous three-month period. Loans to private sector rose at a pace of 1.1% annually after rising 1.0% in December. Analysts had expected private loans to rise by 1.2% in January. Following the release of the data, the euro held on to losses against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD shedding 0.14% to trade at 1.3430. Meanwhile, European stock markets were broadly lower. The EURO STOXX 50 fell 1.1%, France's CAC 40 dropped 1.2%, Germany's DAX tumbled 1.2%, while London’s FTSE 100 declined 0.7%.

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