LONDON—The euro steadied on Wednesday after falling to a six-day low, reacting to the release of conflicting inflation data in Germany and Spain that created a difficult backdrop for European Central Bank policymaking.
The European common single currency declined in early London trading after data showed June prices in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) had been 0.1 percent lower than in May.
But the euro trimmed those losses, flattening on the day, after data showed Spanish 12-month inflation had risen to 10.2 percent in June, up from 8.7 percent in May and surpassing 10 percent for the first time since April 1985.
“Clearly the strength of Spanish CPI inflation data has undone the pressure on the euro,” said Jane Foley, head of FX strategy at Rabobank in London. That came after the -0.1 percent drop in Germany’s NRW June CPI number led “the market to question the hawkishness of the ECB going forward,” she added….