Japan May services producer prices rise 3.3% y/y on soaring fuel costs
A businessman stands on a terrace overlooking a banking district in Tokyo, Japan, February 16, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
TOKYO, June 24 : Japan's services producer price index in May rose 3.3 per cent from a year earlier, central bank data showed on Wednesday, a sign of broadening inflationary pressure that will keep alive market expectations of further interest rate hikes.
The annual rise in the index, which tracks the price companies charge each other for services, followed a revised 3.3 per cent gain in April.
The increase was driven by a 61.8 per cent surge in the cost of ocean freight transportation and a 17.3 per cent gain in international air passenger transportation, the data showed, due likely to surging fuel costs from the Middle East conflict.
