Japan's producer price index (PPI) rose 7.6% year over year in August, according to preliminary data released by the Bank of Japan on Friday.
The reading was higher than the consensus forecast of a 7.4% increase tracked by Investing.com, but softened from the 7.7% growth in July, which was the fastest since February 2023.
On a month-on-month basis, corporate goods prices decreased 0.2%, reversing the 0.1% gain between June and July and marking the first monthly drop in a year.
Bank of Japan Policy Board member Kazuyuki Masu said he is "convinced" of the need for an interest rate hike if inflation accelerates, citing a 7% rise in corporate goods prices and increasing cost pressures.On underlying inflation, Masu said although the underlying inflation rate remains below 2%, "it is very close" to the 2% target, according to a speech on Thursday.The BOJ, which raised its benchmark rate to a 31-year high of 1.0% in June, holds its next policy meeting on Sept. 17-18.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is firmly focused on inflation and is expected to hike the cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.60% in September then hold steady to mid-2027, BofA Securities said in a note on Wednesday.The labor market conditions are still tight and underlying inflation is accelerating, BofA said. Inflation pressures are becoming increasingly broad-based, with strength increasingly concentrated in persistent components and evidence of second-round effects from higher energy costs.The signal in the July consumer price index led to an increase in BofA's September quarter trimmed mean forecast to 0.93% on a quarterly basis, with risks skewed towards a 1% rise. Annual core inflation is expected to remain sticky above 3% until mid-2027, per the report.The risks skew towards more hikes and a higher-for-longer cash rate as inflation pressures are broadening, becoming more persistent, and increasingly inconsistent with target, BofA said.The investment firm forecasts a 10% peak-to-trough decline in house prices, with the downturn becoming a disinflationary force in 2027 before housing conditions begin to stabilize as expectations of RBA easing build.
The UK Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors house price balance stood at -28% in August, up from the revised -29% in the previous month, according to residential market survey data released Thursday.The reading signaled more price declines than increases in the housing sector.House price expectations for the next three months stayed negative, while the 12-month outlook signaled stability.