Weak euro and rising oil prices likely to have pushed Eurozone headline inflation higher in Dec

The Eurozone will publish flash inflation figures for December at 10:00GMT on Wednesday. Wednesday’s euro zone inflation data will be closely watched for indications on how recent weakness in the euro and raising oil prices affected consumer prices.

The consensus forecast is for consumer prices to have risen 1.0 percent, compared to a rise of 0.6 percent in November, while core prices are expected to gain 0.8 percent, unchanged from the prior month. The European Central Bank's inflation projections could be revised higher in 2017.

Any sign of faster consumer-price gains could spur calls for a gradual exit from ECB's monetary stimulus. The ECB extended its bond-buying program for an additional nine months in December, even as it cut back on the size of asset purchases.

"This week's expected rise in December inflation to over 1 percent looks set to fuel concerns further over inflation expectations, bond yields and ECB policy, while survey data should confirm robust GDP growth at the end of last year," analysts at Societe Generale said in a note.