Mubasher: The final euro area consumer prices data showed a decline in December, matching economists’ forecasts.

The euro area annual inflation reached 1.4% in December 2017, down from 1.5% in the previous month, but up from 1.1% in December 2016, Eurostat’s data showed on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, core prices, which exclude the food and energy categories, stood at 0.9% unchanged from previous readings.

The lowest inflation rate was recorded in Cyprus, as prices shrunk 0.4%, while the largest rate was registered in Lithuania with a 3.8% price increase.

In the European Union (EU), inflation eased to 1.7% in December, compared with 1.8% in November, but rose from 1.2% in the same month of the previous year.

By 10:55 am GMT, the EUR/USD pair fell by 0.20% to $1.2236.