The economy of France contracted by 0.3% in the last quarter of 2012. Early expectations stood on a contraction of 0.2%. This is the initial publication, which will be followed by a final one. While the French economy is not enjoying sustained growth, it is still not in a technical recession: two consecutive quarters of contraction.
EUR/USD was trading at around 1.3435, in the middle of the 1.34-1.3486 range before the publication.
The French economy grew by 0.1% in Q3, squeezed by 0.1% in Q2 and remained flat in Q1 – not exactly going anywhere fast.
Europe’s largest economy, Germany, will soon release its own GDP figures, which are expected to show a squeeze of 0.5% in output. See how to trade the German GDP with EUR/USD.  This is at 7:00 GMT.
This will be followed by the Italian GDP at 9:00 and the initial GDP figure for the whole continent at 10:00. Note that the first publications are usually confirmed later without revisions.
