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Forex - Sterling dips as U.K. inflation rate falls back to zero

Published 14/07/2015, 07:13 pm
© Reuters.  Sterling edges lower as U.K. inflation slows to zero in June
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Investing.com - The pound slid to session lows on Tuesday after data showing that U.K. consumer prices were flat in June, falling back towards the lowest rate in more than 50 years.

GBP/USD touched lows of 1.5451, down from around 1.5474 ahead of the data.

The Office for National Statistics said the annual rate of consumer price inflation was flat last month, down from 0.1% in May. Analyst had expected a reading of 0.1%.

Consumer prices were also flat from a month earlier, below estimates for 0.1% increase.

Core inflation, which strips out price rises in energy, food, alcohol and tobacco slowed to 0.8%, the lowest level since March 2001 from 0.9% in May.

The Bank of England has said it expects inflation, which fell below zero in April for the first time in more than 50 years, to pick up later this year as the effects of falling oil and food prices fade.

The ONS said that UK inflation has continued its pattern of recent months, when prices have been very little changed on the previous year.

"The headline rate for June has dropped very slightly on May, back to zero, thanks to small downwards effects from movements in clothing and food prices and air fares," it added.

Sterling was lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP up 0.28% to 0.7122.

The upside for the euro looked likely to remain limited as investors waited to see if the Greek parliament would support harsh austerity measures demanded by the country’s creditors in exchange for a deal to avoid financial collapse.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was to meet with MP's on Tuesday, but faced an uphill battle to win support for a third bailout deal offered by the country’s creditors.

Four pieces of legislation must be passed by the end of the day on Wednesday, including pension and sales tax reforms.

Meanwhile, data on Tuesday showed that German economic sentiment deteriorated to the lowest level in eight months in July as concerns over Greece weighed.

The ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment fell to 29.7 this month from 31.5 in June. Analysts had expected the index to tick down to 29.0.

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