European session review: EUR little changed following a raft of economic data out of Eurozone

EUR traded mixed and little changed against most of its major rivals in the European session on Wednesday, as investors digested a good bit of economic data out of the Eurozone, including the region's CPI readings and Germany's unemployment statistics for June.

The single European currency edged lower against USD, JPY and GBP, but increased slightly against AUD, NZD and CAD.

The preliminary data from Eurostat showed that the Eurozone's consumer price index (CPI) increased 0.3% m/m in June, at the same pace as in May. On y/y basis, the region's inflation rate slowed to 1.9% last month from a 2-1/2-year high of 2% in May, driven by a deceleration in the energy price growth. This was in line with economists' expectations. The core inflation rate, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, eased to 0.9% y/y from 1.0% y/y in the previous month. 

Meanwhile, the Federal Labor Agency's report revealed that unemployment in Germany, the region's largest economy, decreased more than anticipated in June as COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed. According to the report, the number of unemployed people in Germany dropped by 38,000 to 2.691 million in June, following a revised 19,000 decline in the previous month. Economists had forecast a fall of 20,000. The jobless rate remained unchanged at 5.9 percent in June, as expected.

The overall sentiment continued to be undermined by worries that the Delta variant of coronavirus is to slow the region’s growth during the typically busy summer travel season.