Even though some European economists may have been wishing for higher inflation, nobody is particularly happy about the latest numbers from the block, except those holding the euro and European stocks, since both are performing well today.
They don't usually move in tandem, so seeing these two assets display a positive correlation should probably raise a few questions.
For most of the last decade, we've seen markets move less on how fundamental factors affect valuation and more on the anticipation of how central banks might react to news updates and economic data.
This sort of data puts a lot of pressure on the policymakers working at the European Central Bank, who may need to consider taking their fingers off the printing button in order to calm inflation down.
Seeing stocks rise today despite the higher inflation and stronger euro, we can probably assume that investors are betting on the ECB not letting up so quickly.
