Italian headline inflation eases year-on-year in June, core rate remains same

Italian headline inflation eases slightly in the month of June. The consumer price index rose 0.1 percent sequentially, a drop from 0.2 percent rise seen in the prior month. On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation came in at 0.7 percent, a deceleration from 0.8 percent seen in May and slightly below the flash estimate of 0.8 percent.

The deceleration on a year-on-year basis was mainly driven by the trend reversal of prices of non-regulated energy products and, to a lesser extent, to the wider fall of prices of durable goods. Non-regulated energy products came in at -0.6 percent from 2.4 percent recorded in the prior month. Durable goods prices dropped 1.9 percent from a fall of 1.2 percent. These dynamics were partly countered by growth of prices of services related to recreation, including repair and personal care and by the lower decrease of those services related to communication.

Meanwhile, core inflation excluding energy and unprocessed food came in at 0.4 percent, whereas inflation excluding energy came in at 0.5 percent, same as the prior month.

The sequential figure was mainly driven by the prices of services related to transport, which recorded a rise of 2.1 percent, impacted by seasonal factors, only partly countered by the fall of those of unprocessed food. Durable goods prices dropped 0.8 percent, whereas that of non-regulated energy products saw a fall of 0.7 percent.

The annual rate of change of prices of goods was 0.5 percent, while the prices of services was 1 percent.

For details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex