Investing.com - Consumer price inflation in the euro zone in February remained in negative territory for the third consecutive month, underlining concerns over the threat of deflation in the region, official preliminary data showed on Monday.
In a report, Eurostat said consumer price inflation decreased by a seasonally adjusted 0.3% last month, compared to expectations for a decline of 0.4% and following a drop of 0.6% in January.
The rate has now been below 1% for 17 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 0.6% in February, in line with forecasts and unchanged from January.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1214 from around 1.1218 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7273 from 0.7274 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained mixed in subdued trade. The EURO STOXX 50 inched up 0.2%, Germany's DAX tacked on 0.3%, France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.2%, while London’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.4%.