The common currency continued its slide on Wednesday and hit a new nine-year low, ahead of the Eurozone CPI data which is expected to show inflation numbers have fallen to multi-year lows at the end of 2014.

EUR/USD fell to 1.1841, its lowest since February 2006, and down 0.48% from the previous close.

Euro is already down 2.1% within just four active trading days of the New Year, compared to the 2.7% fall in entire December, underpinning concerns that global economic slowdown is increasing safety seeking flows to assets like dollar and bonds.

Better than expected German retail sales numbers came earlier in the day and helped the common currency move off the day's lows but with more important German employment data and Eurozone inflation data due later in the day, the currency remained weak on the day.

Retail sales in Germany posted a month-on-month growth of 1%. Though it was worse than the 2% growth in November, it was better than market consensus of a reading of 0%.

Analysts expect the number of unemployed in Germany to have fallen 6,000 in December less than the 14,000 fall recorded in the previous month. The data will be out at 8:55 GMT.

Consensus for December year-on-year Eurozone core CPI is 0.6%, which will be a record low, and compared to the 0.7% support it held in November.

The headline rate is forecast to fall below zero from 0.3% year-on-year in November, matching its November 2009 rate. A negative number will increase deflationary worries in the region.

The inflation data is scheduled for 10:00 GMT.

Also, the first ever non-monetary policy meeting of the European Central Bank has been scheduled for 7 January. The outcome of the meeting is likely to be keenly watched.

The ECB had announced earlier in July that starting 2015, it will reschedule the monetary policy meetings to a six-week cycle from the monthly cycle followed until the December review.

However, the central bank will continue to convene every month though the deliberations will not cover monetary policy.

The first such meeting happens on 7 January in Frankfurt.

The first policy review meeting of 2015 will be on 22 January followed by a press conference by the bank head as usual.

Another new from the ECB from this year will be 'accounts of the policy review meetings' to be published two weeks after the six-weekly rate-setting meetings.

Euro area bank's reserve requirements have also been aligned to the rate decision meetings making it for a period of six weeks from one month.

ECB bulletins will no longer be monthly, and they too will come in every six weeks.

With Lithuania having joined the euro area on 1 January, the ECB governing council now has 25 members – the six members of the central bank's executive board and the national central bank governors of the 19 euro area countries.

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