Excellent data on the annual growth rate of the euro-zone economy supported the European currency, which I recommended to pay attention to in my morning review. Despite the fact that the monthly growth was slightly worse, the overall situation and further growth prospects remain fairly good.

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee), the growth rate of the economy of France in 2017 increased. So, the economy of France in 2017 grew by 1.9% compared to the previous year. In the fourth quarter, France's GDP grew by 0.6% as compared to the third quarter after rising by 0.5%. All the data coincided with the forecast of economists.

Despite the good economic growth, consumer spending in France fell in December, which could negatively affect the final estimate for GDP growth for 2017. The reduction was due to the fact that households limited their spending in all areas.

According to the data, consumer spending in December fell by 1.2% compared with the previous month, while economists expected growth of 0.6%. Spending on food decreased by 1.4%.

In total, in the fourth quarter of 2017, expenses decreased by 0.1% compared to the previous quarter.

The economy of Spain continues to show growth. According to the report, in the 4th quarter of 2017, compared to the third quarter, Spain's GDP grew by 0.7%. Annual growth may be 3.1%. Despite this, it should be noted that the growth in the 4th quarter was slightly weaker than in the 3rd, when it was 0.8%.

The economy of the eurozone in 2017 demonstrated just excellent growth indicators. As the experts note, the key indicator of the revival of companies' investments in France positively affected.

According to the statistics agency, in 2017, compared with the previous year, the euro area's GDP grew by 2.5%. In the fourth quarter, compared to the third quarter, GDP grew by 0.6%, fully coinciding with the forecasts of economists.

The British pound also rose against the US dollar, despite the data on the decline in the number of approved mortgages in the UK in December 2017. According to the report of the Bank of England, the number of approved mortgage loans in the UK in December was 61,039 compared to 64,712 in November.

As for the technical picture of EUR / USD, I spoke more about it in the morning review.

The outlook for the GBP / USD pair is increasing, but for this, it is necessary to finish the day above the level of 1.4100, which opens the way to the monthly highs in the region of 1.4250 and 1.4340.