By Leika Kihara
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s annual wholesale inflation jumped to 4.2% in January, accelerating for the fifth straight month, data showed on Thursday, highlighting persistent price pressures that may keep alive market expectations of a near-term interest rate hike.
The rise in the corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the price companies charge each other for their goods and services, exceeded a median market forecast for a 4.0% increase and followed a revised 3.9% increase in December.
Goods ranging from food, textile, plastic and non-ferrous metal saw prices rise, the data showed.
An index of yen-based import prices rose 1.5% in January from a year earlier after a revised 0.7% drop in December, the data showed, a sign the yen’s weakness continued to inflate costs for companies.
(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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