The annualized Eurozone Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) accelerated by 8.9% in July vs. June’s 8.6%, the latest data published by Eurostat showed on Friday. The market consensus was for an 8.6% figure.

The core figures rose to 4.0% YoY in July when compared to 3.8% expectations and 3.7% booked in June.

The Euro area figures are reported a day after Germany’s annual inflation for July, which unexpectedly rose to 8.5% while missing expectations of 8.1% following an 8.2% increase reported in June.

The bloc’s HICP figures hold significance, as it helps investors assess the European Central Bank’s (ECB) monetary policy tightening path. The ECB inflation target is 2%.

Key details (via Eurostat)

“Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, energy is expected to have the highest annual rate in July (39.7%, compared with 42.0% in June), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (9.8%, compared with 8.9% in June), non-energy industrial goods (4.5%, compared with 4.3% in June) and services (3.7%, compared with 3.4% in June).”

EUR/USD reaction

The shared currency is little changed on the upbeat data, with EUR/USD trading at 1.0225, up 0.28% on the day.