The annual inflation rate was 0.2 per cent, unchanged from June and matching the median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey.
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On the national indexes, Germany’s DAX 30 was up 0.3% to 11,295.22, and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.7% to 5,080.55.
“It’s too soon to declare a real strengthening of core inflation”, he said.
In June, the eurozone saw an inflation rate of 0.2 percent, far below the ECB’s target of “below, but close to 2 percent”. EU harmonized inflation is seen rising to 0.3 percent in July from 0.2 percent in June.
Teunis Brosens, an economist at ING Bank in Amsterdam, said it “remains to be seen whether core inflation has truly embarked on an upward trend, or whether this was a one-off caused by erratic price movements of some goods and services”.
Conversely, with core inflation higher than forecast, energy deflation must have been stronger than expected, with the delayed impact of autumn price declines feeding through into longer-term gas contract and also falling oil prices this month.
German consumer prices has remained very weak this month, data from states around the country suggests, bolstering the European Central Bank’s (ECB) case for pressing ahead with its bond-buying plan to lift inflation across the euro zone.
The jobless rate is expected to drop to 11 percent in June from 11.1 percent in May.
However, Greece remained the Eurozone member with the highest unemployment rate, which stood at 25.6% in April, the most recent month for which figures from the country are available.
The overall number of people unemployed in the euro area increased by 31,000 compared with May.
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Among movers, ArcelorMittal SA (MT) shares were up 2% as the steel-industry heavyweight said second-quarter net profit rose to $179 million (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/arcelormittal-pressured-by-china-and-russia-2015-07-31-14855523) from $52 million a year ago.
