UK inflation holds steady at 2% as stubborn services prices dash rate cut hopes

Core CPI, which excluded food, alcohol and tobacco, reached 3.5% in the year to June, the same as a month before. Services inflation, a closely watched measure by the Bank of England's (BoE) rate-setters, also remained sticky, refusing to come down from the May figure and remaining instead unchanged at 5.7% in June. The latest data came in as the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee considers whether to start cutting interest rates at its next meeting on 1 August. Omnis Investments chief investment officer Andrew Summers said the latest UK inflation data is "no smoking gun" for an Augus...