Mubasher: The Eurozone’s goods trade balance surplus expanded unexpectedly in February, driven by a significant decline in imports.

The surplus registered EUR 21 billion in February, up from 20.2 in the previous month, seasonally adjusted data by the Eurostat showed on Friday.

Economists, however, had expected trade surplus to remain at the same level during February

Exports of goods in the euro area shrunk by 2.3% to EUR 186.1 billion in the second month of 2018, while imports fell by 3.1% to EUR 165.1 billion.

Meanwhile, the European Union’s (EU) goods trade balance saw a surplus of EUR 4 billion in February, versus a deficit of EUR 0.9 billion in January.

By 09:42 am GMT, the EUR/USD pair edged up by around 0.1% to $1.2338.