There were further signs that the eurozone was starting to turn a corner as inflation held steady at 2.4% and the single currency economy avoided recession in the first quarter of the year.
GDP across the eurozone expanded by 0.3% in January-March, according to data released by statistics body Eurostat, ending the technical recession of last year when the economy shrank by 0.1% in both the third and fourth quarters of last year.

Stronger-than-expected growth in Germany, France, Italy and Spain was the main driver, assisted by lower energy prices.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com