Japan's core consumer inflation accelerated for the fourth straight month in August and tracked comfortably above the central bank's 2% target, data showed on Friday, keeping alive expectations for further interest rate hikes.

The core consumer price index in Japan, which excludes fresh food but includes fuel costs, increased by 2.8% Y/Y in August 2024, posting the highest reading since February and matching market expectations.

Rice prices shot up 28.3%, electricity rates soared 26.2% and city gas rates 15.1%, following an end of government subsidies.

Japan’s consumer inflation grew at a slightly faster pace in August and stayed well above the Bank of Japan’s 2% target.

Japan's consumer inflation rate likely picked up for the fourth straight month in August, a Reuters poll of 20 economists showed, tracking comfortably above the central bank's 2% target and keeping alive expectations for more rate hikes ahead.

TOKYO -- Japan's exports grew in value terms for the ninth month in a row in August, driven by semiconductor related goods, official data showed on Wednesday, even as shipments to the U.S. declined for the first time in nearly three years amid slumping auto demand.