Mexico inflation eases less than expected in early July

Mexico's annual inflation rate eased less than expected in the first half of July, data showed on Monday, but still lent weight to the central bank's view that price pressures in Latin America's second biggest economy may be peaking.

Annual inflation slowed to 6.28 percent from 6.33 percent in the second half of June, figures from the national statistics institute INEGI showed. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast a rate of 6.23 percent.

Consumer prices rose 0.24 percent during the first half of July compared with the previous two-week period, slightly . . .