financetom
Euro-Dollar
financetom
/
Forex
/
Euro-Dollar
/
Euro: Italian Inflation Plunge Sends An Important Signal
News World Market Environment Technology Personal Finance Politics Retail Business Economy Cryptocurrency Forex Stocks Market Commodities
Euro: Italian Inflation Plunge Sends An Important Signal
Mar 22, 2024 2:18 AM

Image © Adobe Stock

The European Central Bank (ECB) will be hoping Italy's inflation undershoot in June is a sign of things to come and that the likes of Germany and France will follow suit on Thursday and Friday.

Italian inflation fell sharply in June with a 0% month-on-month reading, down from 0.3% in May said Istat, taking the year-on-year figure to 6.4%, which was far below the 6.8% expected by consensus and May's 7.6%.

The Euro was relatively unmoved, but inflation numbers out Thursday will be a key driver as they should send an updated signal to the ECB as to whether its 'hawkish' stance on interest rates is warranted at this late stage of the hiking cycle.

"Italian inflation was softer than expected and dropped a good amount from the previous print which bodes well for broader EU inflation," says Brad Bechtel, FX strategist at Jefferies.

The big event will be the release of inflation from Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia region at 06:30 BST which tends to set the tone for Europe's largest economy which will report state data through the course of the morning ahead of all-German inflation at 13:00 BST.

France reports inflation numbers Friday (07:45) ahead of the unified Eurozone release due at 10:00.

The fall in energy prices was the main source of surprise in the Italian inflation data release, "the energy component remains the key driver in the slowing pace of Italian inflation," says Paolo Pizzoli, Senior Economist for Italy at ING Bank.

Italian core inflation also fell to 5.6%, from 6% in May, with conditions emerging for a further decline over the summer months, says Pizzoli, although he does caution the potential for renewed stickiness further down the line can't be ruled out just yet.

For its part, the ECB would welcome a replication of these developments in the other major European economies, although any undershoot will unlikely be of the magnitude required to deter them from a July hike.

Indeed, the crux for currency markets is what happens in September, will inflation cool enough by then to encourage the ECB to pause the hiking cycle?

If this is indeed the case then the Euro can come under pressure again, and the first opportunity to test this theory comes on Thursday with Germany's inflation release.

Comments
Welcome to financetom comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Related Articles >
EUR/USD and USD/JPY – Latest Sentiment Analysis
EUR/USD and USD/JPY – Latest Sentiment Analysis
Aug 16, 2024
EUR/USD and USD/JPY – Latest Sentiment Analysis Recommended by Nick Cawley How to Trade EUR/USD EUR/USD Sentiment Analysis Current positioning: 32.46% of traders are net-longThe ratio of short to long traders is 2.08 to 1Changes in positioning: Net-long traders: Up 9.28% from yesterday, down 17.58% from last weekNet-short traders: Down 10.10% from yesterday, up 15.36% from last weekInterpretation: The analysis...
Sharp Rise in the Unemployment Rate Amplifies September Rate Cut Odds
Sharp Rise in the Unemployment Rate Amplifies September Rate Cut Odds
Aug 2, 2024
NFP, USD, Yields and Gold Analysed A disappointing 114k jobs were added to the economy in June, less than the 175k expected and prior 179k in June.Average hourly earnings continue to ease but the unemployment rate rises to 4.3%USD continues to trend lower as do US treasuries while gold receives a boost Recommended by Richard Snow Get Your Free USD...
British Pound (GBP) Latest – Will the Bank of England Cut Rates This Week?
British Pound (GBP) Latest – Will the Bank of England Cut Rates This Week?
Jul 29, 2024
British Pound (GBP) Latest – Will the Bank of England Cut Rates This Week? Expectations are growing that the BoE will start cutting rates this week.GBP/USD may have already put in its medium-term high. Recommended by Nick Cawley Get Your Free GBP Forecast The Bank of England will release its latest monetary policy report this week with financial markets now...
​​​​​​FTSE 100 holds support, while Dax struggles, but Dow surges to fresh highs​​​​​​
​​​​​​FTSE 100 holds support, while Dax struggles, but Dow surges to fresh highs​​​​​​
Jul 17, 2024
FTSE 100, DAX 40, Dow Jones 30 ​​​FTSE 100 holds above support ​The index bounced from the 8150 support zone yesterday, halting any downside for the time being.​Recent gains have petered out around 8300, so a close above this is needed to revive a bullish view in the short term and open the way to the May highs. FTSE 100...
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.financetom.com All Rights Reserved