Japan’s June Inflation Accelerates, Core CPI Meets Expectations Amid Rising Oil Prices

• Japan’s June headline CPI rose to 1.7% YoY.
• Core CPI (ex-fresh food) met expectations at 1.6%.
• USD/JPY strengthened post-data, up 0.41%.

Japan’s National Consumer Price Index (CPI) for June increased to 1.7% year-over-year, up from 1.5% in the previous month. The core CPI, which excludes fresh food, also rose to 1.6% year-over-year, aligning with market expectations and marking its first increase since March. This acceleration in inflation is partly attributed to higher oil prices impacting the broader economy. However, the “core-core” measure, stripping out both fresh food and energy, saw a slight decline to 1.7% from 1.8% previously. Following the data release, the USD/JPY pair strengthened, trading up 0.41% at 163.82.