Japan’s wholesale inflation slows for 2nd month in February

JAPAN’S wholesale prices rose 8.2 per cent in February from a year earlier, data showed on Friday, marking the second straight month of year-on-year slowdown in a sign the impact of past spikes in raw material costs is fading.

The increase in the corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the price companies charge each other for their goods and services, was smaller than a median market forecast for a 8.4 per cent gain and followed a 9.5 per cent rise in January.

The slowdown in the pace of wholesale price increases heightens the chance Japan’s consumer inflation, which is now running at double the central bank’s 2 per cent target, will likely moderate in coming months. REUTERS