ADDS Italy
Inflation in France eased further in March, official figures showed on Friday, while inflation in Italy accelerated but remained low, raising hopes for interest rate cuts in coming months.
France's inflation rate fell to 2.3% from 3.0% in February, according to provisional figures from the INSEE statistical institute.
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ADDS Italy
Inflation in France eased further in March, official figures showed on Friday, while inflation in Italy accelerated but remained low, raising hopes for interest rate cuts in coming months.
France's inflation rate fell to 2.3% from 3.0% in February, according to provisional figures from the INSEE statistical institute.
Food price inflation slowed sharply last month to 1.7% from 3.6% in February, while cigarette price growth slowed to 10.7% from 18.7% the previous month.
Consumer price inflation in the eurozone's second-largest economy slowed to 0.2% in March, following a 0.9% rise in February.
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“This slowdown is likely due to a slight decline in energy prices, particularly gas and oil products,” INSEE said in a statement.
Inflation in Italy, the eurozone's third-largest economy, hit 1.3% last month, up from 0.8% in February, according to the country's Istat agency.
That was below the 1.5% expected in a Bloomberg poll of analysts and still well below the European Central Bank's 2% target for the eurozone.
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Investors are closely scrutinizing inflation data from euro zone countries in hopes that the ECB will start cutting interest rates as early as June.
Inflation in the euro area is slowing, reaching 2.6% in February.
Inflation in euro zone member Spain accelerated to 3.2% in March from 2.8% in February, data showed on Wednesday.
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