Investing.com - Consumer price inflation in the euro zone slowed unexpectedly in July to hit the lowest level since October 2009, fuelling concerns over the threat of deflation in the region, official preliminary data showed on Thursday.
In a report, Eurostat said consumer price inflation increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.4% this month, slowing from 0.5% in June. Analysts had expected euro zone inflation to hold steady at 0.5% in July.
The rate has now been below 1% for ten straight months, well under the European Central Bank's target of near but just under 2%.
Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco costs rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in June, meeting forecasts and following a 0.8% increase in May.
Following the release of the data, the euro held on to losses against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD shedding 0.04% to trade at 1.3391.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained lower. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 fell 0.95%, France’s CAC 40 slumped 0.7%, Germany's DAX lost 1%, while London’s FTSE 100 dipped 0.25%.