Eurozone inflation hits three-year low

Inflation across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro fell to its lowest level in over three years in April in a development that will pile pressure on the European Central Bank to cut its main interest rate.

Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said consumer prices rose 1.2% in the year to April, way down on the 1.7% rate recorded in March and markedly below market expectations for a modest decline to 1.6%.