Investing.com - Investing.com - The euro zone's economy grew less-than-expected in the first three months of the year, underlining concerns over the region's economic outlook, official preliminary data showed on Thursday. In a report, Eurostat said that the euro zone's gross domestic product grew by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in the first quarter, below expectations for growth of 0.4% and unchanged from growth of 0.2% in the preceding quarter. Year-on-year, euro zone GDP increased at an annualized pace of 0.9% compared to a year earlier, below expectations for growth of 1.1% and after expanding at a rate of 0.5% in the previous quarter. Following the release of the data, the euro held on to losses against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD shedding 0.31% to trade at 1.3673. Meanwhile, European stock markets remained lower. The Euro Stoxx 50 declined 0.35%, France's CAC 40 dipped 0.3%, London's FTSE 100 shed 0.15%, while Germany's DAX slumped 0.25%.

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