— Japan Apr Core CPI +0.2% Y/Y; MNI Median Forecast +0.1%
— Japan Apr CPI Posts 3rd Y/Y Rise In Row
— Central Tokyo May CPI -0.8% Y/Y; MNI Median Forecast -0.5%
— Japan Apr CPI Energy Costs +5.3% Y/Y Vs Mar +5.7
— Japan Apr CPI TVs +8.1% Y/Y Vs Mar +2.3%
— Japan Apr CPI Recreational Durable Goods -1.0% Y/Y; Mar -5.9%
— Tokyo May CPI -0.8% Largest Y/Y Drop Since -0.8% in Mar 2011
— Tokyo May CPI Drop Caused By Slower Energy Rise, TV Slump
TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s core consumer prices posted a third straight
annual rise in April, buoyed by higher prices of utilities, gasoline and
TVs, but the pace of growth in energy costs decelerated further, data
released Friday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
showed.
The core reading, which excludes perishables but includes energy,
rose 0.2% last month from a year earlier following a 0.2% increase in
March. It beat the median economist forecast for +0.1% in a MNI survey.
Total national CPI rose 0.4% on year in April after rising 0.5% in
March, marking a fourth straight rise.
Overall energy costs in April rose 5.3% from a year earlier,
slowing slightly from a 5.7% rise in March.
Electricity bills rose 6.6% in April from a year earlier (vs. +6.9%
in March) while retail gasoline prices gained 4.2% (vs. +4.9% in March).
The year-on-year increase in TV prices accelerated to +8.1% in
April from +2.3% in March, contributing to a smaller 1.0% y/y drop in
prices of recreational durable goods, compared with -5.9% in March.
National CPI excluding food and energy, or the U.S.-style core CPI,
dropped 0.3% in April following a 0.5% decline in March.
Central Tokyo core CPI tumbled 0.8% in May following a 0.5% drop in
April and compared with the median forecast for a 0.5% fall in a MNI
survey.
The May drop, the largest since -0.8% in March 2011, was mainly
caused by a sharp drop in TV prices and a smaller contribution from
energy costs.
In central Tokyo, TV prices slumped 21.6% this month (vs. -4.6% in
April) from May 2011, when demand for digital TVs were strong
before Japan terminated analogue broadcasting services in July.
Also the year-on-year rise in energy costs in the area decelerated
to +6.1% in May from +7.7% in April, reflecting softer refined petroleum
product markets.
CPI figures date to 1970 under the 2010 base year.
Despite years of deflation, the latest government consumer
confidence survey indicated a slight increase in inflation expectations.
The percentage of people forecasting higher prices in a year’s time
rose to 68.1% of the total on an unadjusted basis in April, up from
65.9% in the previous month.
Meanwhile, the average price of regular gasoline in Japan fell to
Y149.4 ($1.88) per liter in the week of May 21 from Y151.7 the previous
week, marking a seventh straight weekly drop.
The average retail price this week was 0.1% below the Y149.5 per
liter price seen a year earlier, posting a rare year-on-year decline
after a 0.4% rise in the previous week.
Before the recent decline, the price reached Y158.3 in the week
starting on April 2, the highest in three and a half years since Y161.6
seen in the week of Oct. 14, 2008.
tokyo@marketnews.com
** MNI Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-5403-4835 **
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