Yahoo Finance UK Annual Inflation Eases Back From 5-year High in December
Investing.com - Consumer price inflation (CPI) in the UK pulled back from a five-year high in December, official data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate of consumer price inflation rose from the year before by a seasonally adjusted 3.0% last month, in line with expectations compared to November’s 3.1% increase which had been the highest inflation since March 2012.
Month-over-month, consumer price inflation rose 0.4% in December, also in line with forecasts and compared to the 0.3% gain registered in the previous month.
Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco costs rose at a seasonally adjusted rate of 2.5% last month, below forecasts for a 2.6% and the 2.7% advance registered in November.
The retail price index (RPI) increased by 4.1% on an annualized basis in December, compared to previous month’s 3.9% rise. Analysts had expected inflation to match November’s reading.
Month-on-month, RPI increased by 0.8% in December, higher than the 0.2% rise seen a month earlier and the forecast for a 0.6% gain.
Core RPI increased at an annualized rate of 4.2% in last month, higher than the 4.0% rise registered a month earlier.
Month-on-month, core RPI rose by 0.8% in December, compared to the 0.1% increase seen the previous month.
The data also showed that the house price index rose 5.1% in December, following a 5.4% increase a month earlier. November’s data was revised up from an initial 4.5% rise.
The ONS indicated that the downward effect came mainly from air fares, along with a fall in the prices of a range of recreational goods, particularly games and toys.
“The downward contributions were partially offset by an increase in tobacco prices, reflecting duty increases that came into effect following the Autumn Budget, along with an increase in petrol and diesel prices,” the ONS added.
Following the report, GBP/USD traded at 1.3773 from around 1.3784 ahead of the release of the data, EUR/GBP was at 0.8878 from 0.8872 earlier while GBP/JPY changed hands at 152.44, compared to 152.56 previously.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were trading mostly higher. London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.16%, the benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 advanced 0.24%, France's CAC 40 traded up 0.33%, while Germany's DAX gained 0.55%.
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