Japan CPI inflation grows slightly less than expected in June

Investing.com-- Japanese consumer price index inflation grew a touch below expectations in June as consumer spending picked up only slightly, brewing more uncertainty over just when the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates further. 

National core CPI, which excludes volatile items such as fresh food, rose 2.6% year-on-year in June, missing expectations of 2.7%  but rising from the 2.5% seen in the prior month.

A core reading that excludes both fresh food and fuel prices, and is watched closely by the BOJ for cues on underlying inflation, grew 2.2% in June, picking up slightly from the 2.1% seen in May. But the reading remained close to near two-year lows. 

Headline CPI inflation remained steady at 2.8% from the prior month, data from the Statistics Bureau showed on Friday. 

The inflation data showed some pick-up in spending, coming after recent data showed Japanese average wages were picking up from years of laggard growth.

But whether it gave the BOJ enough confidence that demand was strong remained unclear.

Markets are split over whether the central bank will raise interest rates further after a historic hike in March. The BOJ is set to meet at the end of July, with analysts split over a 10 basis point hike. 

Despite a March hike, the BOJ has provided scant cues on how it plans to tighten policy further. The bank has signaled that it needs to see a sustained pick-up in local demand, which has so far remained elusive amid slowing economic growth in the country.