JPY 外匯新聞

The monetary base in Japan was up 2.1 percent on year in April, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday - coming in at 689.896 trillion yen.

Members of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Board said that the bank's inflation target of 2 percent was in sight, minutes from the central bank's March 18-19 meeting revealed on Thursday.

The manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in April, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Wednesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.6.

The value of retail sales in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent on month in March, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Tuesday - coming in at 14.691 billion yen.

Industrial production in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 3.8 percent on month in March, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Tuesday.

The unemployment rate in Japan was a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in March, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Tuesday.

The Bank of Japan left its key interest rate unchanged near zero and the bank's latest projections showed the underlying inflation staying around 2 percent that further damped expectations for aggressive tightening in future. The BoJ policy board, headed by Governor Kazuo Ueda, unanimously decided to hold the overnight interest rate at around 0 to 0.1 percent.

Consumer prices in the Tokyo region of Japan were up 1.8 percent on year in April, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday.

Producer prices in Japan were up 2.3 percent on year in March, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday.

Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 366.5 billion yen in March, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday.