Investing.com - Consumer price inflation in the U.K. rose more than forecast in August, adding to speculation that the Bank of England could strike a more hawkish tone on interest rates at its upcoming policy meeting later this week.
British consumer prices rose by 2.9% compared with a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said, up from 2.6% in July. Economists had expected inflation to rise at a 2.8% rate last month.
Month-over-month, consumer price inflation accelerated 0.6%, compared to estimates for a gain of 0.5% and following a decline of 0.1% in July.
Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco costs rose at a seasonally adjusted rate of 2.7% last month, the most since 2011. That was up from 2.4% in July and above forecasts for a reading of 2.5%.
The retail price index increased 3.9% in August, increasing from 3.6% a month earlier.
The data also showed that the house price index rose 5.1%, accelerating from an increase of 4.9% in July
The data underlined arguments for an immediate interest rate hike that a minority of policymakers supported at the last BOE decision.
GBP/USD shot up to 1.3250 from around 1.3205 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.9021 from 0.9056 earlier.