Key insights
- Japanese wholesale inflation accelerated in March due to rising input costs exacerbated by Middle East tensions. The corporate goods price index (CGPI) rose 2.6%, exceeding forecasts. Rising import prices, driven by a weaker yen and higher energy costs, contributed to inflationary pressures. This may prompt the Bank of Japan to consider raising interest rates, potentially impacting global risk sentiment and indirectly influencing US equities through currency and interest rate channels.
By Leika Kihara
TOKYO, April 10 (Reuters) - Japan’s wholesale inflation jumped in March as conflict in the Middle East pushed up a wide range of input costs, data showed on Friday, highlighting mounting price pressure that may prod the central bank to raise interest rates in the near future.
The corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the prices companies charge each other for their goods and services, rose 2.6% in March from the same month a year earlier, exceeding the median market forecast of 2.4% and accelerating from February’s revised 2.1%.
On a month-on-month basis, the index rose 0.8% after a revised 0.1% increase in February driven by rising prices of gasoline, chemical goods and metal products.
An index measuring yen-based import prices jumped 7.9% on year in March after a revised 2.7% gain in February, Bank of Japan data showed.