JPY News

The forecast for inflation over the next year in Japan is 1.5 percent, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday in the second half of its quarterly Tankan survey of consumer sentiment.

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Japan posted a current account surplus of 612.7 billion yen in February, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday - turning positive after four straight months of deficit.

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The members of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy board said that Japan was seeing a moderate economic recovery which is likely to continue, minutes from the board's March 10 and 11 meeting revealed on Friday. The board members added that the country appears to finally be on the right track in its war with deflation, as inflation finally appears to be rising. They did not, however, wish to undertake any action ahead of the new sales tax that has recently been enacted.

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An index measuring tertiary industrial activity in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 1.0 percent on month in February, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Friday - standing at 100.6.

That was well shy of forecasts for an increase of 0.2 percent following the 0.9 percent jump in January.

Among the individual components of the survey, activity was down for accommodations, finance, transportation, wholesale trade, real estate and health care.

Activity was up for communications and utilities; learning support was flat.

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An index measuring corporate service prices in Japan was up 0.7 percent on year in March, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday, standing at 97.1.

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Overall inflation for the Tokyo region, considered a leading indicator for the nationwide trend, spiked 2.9 percent on year in April, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday.

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Nationwide consumer prices in Japan were up 1.6 percent on year in March, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday - in line with expectations and up from 1.5 percent in February.

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Retail sales in Japan surged 11.0 percent on year in March, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Monday, worth 13.731 trillion yen.

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Japan saw a current account surplus of 116.4 billion yen in March, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday - remaining in the black for the second straight month.

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Japan's gross domestic product expanded 5.9 percent on year in the first quarter of 2014, the Cabinet Office said in Thursday's preliminary reading.

That was well above forecasts for an increase of 4.2 percent following the downwardly revised 0.3 percent gain in the previous three months (originally 0.7 percent).

On a quarterly basis, GDP was up 1.5 percent - also topping expectations for an increase of 1.0 percent following the downwardly revised 0.1 percent gain in the fourth quarter (originally 0.2 percent).

Analysts say that the big jump in the economy was the result of dramatically higher consumer spending - particularly on big-ticket items - ahead of the higher consumption tax that took effect in April.

Nominal GDP gained 1.2 percent on quarter, beating forecasts for 1.0 percent following the 0.2 percent gain in Q4.

Capital spending jumped 4.9 percent on quarter - well above forecasts for 2.1 percent after gaining 1.4 percent in the previous three months.
Consumer spending climbed 2.1 percent on quarter - matching expectations and up from 0.4 percent in the three months prior.

The GDP deflator was flat on quarter versus forecasts for a fall of 0.1 percent after shedding a downwardly revised 0.4 percent in the three months prior (originally -0.3 percent).

Also on Thursday, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that its index measuring tertiary industry activity in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 2.4 percent on month in March, standing at 103.0.

That was in line with expectations following the upwardly revised 0.9 percent contraction in February (originally -1.0 percent).

Among the individual components, activity was up for retail sales, personal services, accommodations, real estate and communications.

Activity was down for financial services, scientific research, utilities and medical care.



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