• Japan’s latest inflation report gives the Bank of Japan another reason to wait beyond next week’s meeting before ending the negative rate policy, while also adding to the case for a hike in coming months.
• Growth in consumer prices excluding fresh food slowed to 2.3% in December from a year earlier, matching consensus, the internal affairs ministry reported Friday. Deeper drops in electricity and gas prices and a slower pace of gains for processed food weighed on the index.
• For a second month, prices for services rose 2.3%, the fastest pace in three decades excluding periods distorted by sales tax hikes.
• The data support the view that there’s no pressing need for the BOJ to rush into making its first rate hike since 2007 at its January meeting, with April touted by many economists as the most likely month.