Euro Area CPI inflation confirmed at 2.5% in June

The annual CPI inflation rate in the Euro Area was confirmed at 2.5% in June, while easing from 2.6% in May.

A year earlier, CPI inflation stood at 5.5%.

In June, inflation eased for energy (0.2% YoY versus 0.3% YoY in May) and for food, alcohol and tobacco (2.4% YoY versus 2.6% YoY in May).

In the meantime, inflation remained steady for services, at 4.1%, and for non-energy industrial goods, at 0.7%.

Annual core CPI inflation, which excludes volatile categories such as food and energy, was stable at 2.9% in June, final data by Eurostat showed.

The Euro was last 0.38% stronger on the day against the US Dollar, with the EUR/USD currency pair trading at 1.0940.

The major Forex pair was holding in proximity to a fresh 4-month high of 1.0945, with the ECB policy meeting outcome now in focus.

The European Central Bank cut its main refinancing operations rate by 25 basis points to 4.25% at its June policy meeting.

Additionally, the deposit facility rate was reduced to 3.75%, while the marginal lending rate – to 4.5%.