Japan National CPI ticks up to 1.3% on annualized basis

Japan's national Consumer Price Index reported y/y inflation through August at 1.3%, coming in above the forecast 1.1% and improving on the previous reading of 0.9%.

Key highlights

Japan's national CPI lags behind the Tokyo CPI reading by several weeks, muting potential market impact of the national reading, though traders will be getting a boost of confidence from today's report as Japan's long sought-after inflation  appears to be slowly working, with inflation readings finally beginning to tick upwards on a regular basis, though plenty of work still remains in order to achieve the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) 2% target range.

Core National CPI printed at expectations, coming in at 0.9% versus the previous 0.8%, and Japan's "core-core" CPI, which excludes food and energies prices, came in at 0.4% (last 0.3%), also meeting expectations.

The largest decline in the measured basket came from the furniture and household goods category, declining by -1.1%, while transportation and communication climbed by 2.0%, with medical care costs also rising by 1.1%, with goods rising by 2.1% and services rising by 0.5%.