| Time | Country | Event | Period | Previous value | Forecast | Actual |
|---|
| 06:00 | United Kingdom | HICP, Y/Y | June | 2% | 1.9% | 2% |
| 06:00 | United Kingdom | HICP ex EFAT, Y/Y | June | 3.5% | 3.5% | 3.5% |
| 06:00 | United Kingdom | HICP, m/m | June | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| 09:00 | Eurozone | Harmonized CPI, Y/Y | June | 2.6% | 2.5% | 2.5% |
| 09:00 | Eurozone | Harmonized CPI ex EFAT, Y/Y | June | 2.9% | 2.9% | 2.9% |
| 09:00 | Eurozone | Harmonized CPI | June | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
GBP appreciated against other major currencies in the European session on Wednesday as investors responded to the data, which showed that inflation unexpectedly remained unchanged in June.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported earlier this morning that the UK's headline consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.0% YoY in June, the same pace as in May, surprising economists who had predicted the annual price growth to weaken to 1.9%. Other major measures of inflation also were unchanged. The core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcoholic drinks and tobacco, held steady at 3.5% YoY. Services sector inflation - attentively monitored by the British central bank - remained unchanged at 5.7% YoY.
The UK inflation figures for June prompted markets to trim their bets on an August interest rate cut by the Bank of England.
According to Bloomberg, markets now see a nearly 35% probability of a rate reduction at the BoE’s August 1 meeting, down from 41% yesterday, and price in 47 basis points of policy easing this year, compared to 49 basis points on Tuesday.