The significant and agonizing issue plaguing Europe’s economies over the last two years hasn’t entirely gone away. The two largest economies in the European Union, France and Germany, had increases in annual inflation in December. The upward trend in consumer price inflation in the eurozone was confirmed by the first estimate released on Friday, which increased from 2.4% in November to 2.9%. This marked the first increase in the 20 eurozone member states’ yearly inflation rate since April 2023. According to EU data, the total rate increased as a result of a far less noticeable year-over-year decline in energy prices, together with further rises in the cost of services, food, alcohol, and tobacco. That might reduce some investors’ euphoria over the European Central Bank (ECB)