Investing.com – Consumer price inflation (CPI) in the euro zone eased more than expected in May, official preliminary data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, Eurostat said consumer price inflation rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.4% in May, below expectations for an increase of 1.5% and following a final reading of a 1.9% advance in the prior month.
According to Eurostat, and ooking at the main components of euro area inflation, energy is expected to have the highest annual rate in May (4.6%, compared with 7.6% in April), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (1.5%, stable compared with April), services (1.3%, compared with 1.8% in April) and non-energy industrial goods (0.3%, stable compared with April).
Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco costs, increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.9% in May from the same period a year ago, after a 1.2% gain in the prior month. Analysts had expected core inflation to increase by 1.0%.
The European Central Bank’s (ECB) inflation target is officially close to, but below, 2.0% and will make its next monetary policy decision on June 8.
After the report, EUR/USD was at 1.1176 compared to 1.1178 ahead of the release, while EUR/GBP traded at 0.8427 compared to 0.8741 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were trading mixed. The Euro Stoxx 50 inched up 0.05%, Germany's DAX edged forward 0.04%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.16%, while London’s FTSE 100 traded up 0.29%.