— Japan June Core CPI -0.2% Y/Y; MNI Median Forecast Flat
— Central Tokyo July CPI -0.6% Y/Y; MNI Median Forecast -0.6%
— Japan June CPI Energy Costs +2.0% Y/Y Vs May +3.7%
— Japan June CPI TVs -6.1% Y/Y Vs May -0.4%
— Japan June CPI Recreational Durable Goods -11.1% Y/Y; May -7.3%

TOKYO (MNI) – Japan’s core consumer prices posted a second straight
month of annual declines in June, hit by tumbling prices of personal
computers and other consumer electronics as well as slower gains in
energy costs, data released Friday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs
and Communications showed.

The core reading, which excludes perishables but includes energy,
fell 0.2% last month from a year earlier following a 0.1% dip in May.
The result was worse than expected, with the median forecast in an MNI
survey calling for an unchanged reading.

Total national CPI also declined 0.2% on year in June after rising
0.2% in May, marking the first fall in six months.

Prices of consumer durable goods, led by refrigerators, dropped
10.4% from a year earlier, pushing down the overall CPI by 0.11
percentage point. Prices of refrigerators alone tumbled 29.1% last
month.

Television prices dipped 6.1% on the year in June after falling
0.4% in May.

Overall energy costs in June rose just 2.0% from a year earlier,
slowing from a 3.7% rise in May.

National CPI excluding food and energy, or the U.S.-style core CPI,
dropped 0.6% y/y in June following a like-sized fall in May.

Central Tokyo core CPI fell 0.6% on the year in July, matching the
drop in June and the MNI survey median forecast.

CPI figures date to 1970 under the 2010 base year.

The average price of regular gasoline in Japan fell to Y139.4 in
the week started July 9, the lowest since Y139.0 in the Feb. 28, 2011
week, according to the recent data from the Agency for Natural Resources
and Energy showed Wednesday.

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.

A recent government survey also showed consumers’ inflation
expectations have slipped.

The percentage of people forecasting higher prices in a year’s time
stood at 61.3% of the total on an unadjusted basis in June, down from
65.5% in the previous month, according to the survey by the Cabinet
Office.

tokyo@marketnews.com
** MNI Tokyo Newsroom: 81-3-5403-4835 **

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