Investing.com – Consumer price inflation (CPI) in the euro zone remained stable in September, missing forecasts for a slight increase, while the core reading eased unexpectedly, official preliminary data showed on Friday.
In a report, Eurostat said consumer price inflation rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.5% in September, below expectations for an increase of 1.6% and compared a final reading of a 1.5% advance in the prior month.
According to Eurostat, and looking at the main components of euro area inflation, energy is expected to have the highest annual rate in September (3.9%, compared with 4.0% in August), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (1.9%, compared with 1.4% in August), services (1.5%, compared with 1.6% in August) and non-energy industrial goods (0.5%, stable compared with August).
Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco costs, increased by a seasonally adjusted 1.1% in September from the same period a year ago.
Analysts had expected core inflation to repeat August’s reading of a 1.2% rise.
The European Central Bank’s inflation target is officially close to, but below, 2.0% and will make its next monetary policy decision on October 26.
The euro zone monetary authority is expected to discuss plans for tapering its asset purchase program, currently set to expire at the end of the year.
After the report, EUR/USD was at 1.1793 compared to 1.1796 ahead of the release, while EUR/GBP traded at 0.8817 compared to 0.8814 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were trading mostly higher. The Euro Stoxx 50 gained 0.18%, Germany's DAX advanced 0.20%, France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.04%, while London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.57%.