Inflation was stable in April, with both monthly and year-over-year readings unchanged from their previous results. Prices for clothing, seasonal fruits, and vegetables increased, but were offset by declines in hotels, rail tours and package tours. Core inflation, which excludes seasonal products, energy and fuel were 0.1 percent higher in April and up 0.6 percent year-on-year.

Prices for imported goods rose 0.3 percent in April from March, but are down 2.5 percent from a year ago. For the same period, domestic prices fell 0.1 percent on the month and were up 0.8 percent on the year-on-year comparison.

Also helping to keep inflation are administered prices set my the government, which were also unchanged on the month, while down 0.7 percent from a year ago.

Today's results shouldn't concern the Swiss National Bank, with the lack of broad-based inflation giving it some degree of policy flexibility should the economy slow.

The harmonized inflation index (HICP), used for comparing prices across European economies, rose 0.7 percent in April from March and stood 0.3 percent year-on-year.

The consumer price index (CPI) is an average measure of the level of the prices of goods and services bought for the purpose of consumption by Swiss households. Monthly and annual changes in the CPI provide widely used measures of inflation. The policy target measure for the Swiss National Bank (SNB), the annual CPI rate can be distorted by swings in prices amongst the more volatile subsectors and the CPI excluding fresh food and energy is used as a better guide to underlying short-term trends. Although not a member of the Eurozone, a harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP), measured according to Eurostat's procedures, is also published alongside the CPI.

The consumer price index is the most widely followed indicator of inflation. An investor who understands how inflation influences the markets will benefit over those investors that do not understand the impact. Inflation is an increase in the overall prices of goods and services. The relationship between inflation and interest rates is the key to understanding how indicators such as the CPI influence the markets- and your investments. Inflation (along with various risks) basically explains how interest rates are set on everything from loans to notes and bonds. As the rate of inflation changes and as expectations on inflation change, the markets adjust interest rates. The effect ripples across stocks, bonds, commodities, and your portfolio, often in a dramatic fashion. By tracking inflation, whether high or low, rising or falling, investors can anticipate how different types of investments will perform. Over the long run, the bond market will rally (fall) when increases in the CPI are small (large). The equity market rallies with the bond market because low inflation promises low interest rates and is good for profits.