But upward pressure on services and solid wage growth support a Bank of Japan rate hike in May ... pressures still appear to be building. Core inflation, excluding fresh food and energy ...

Just when it appeared that the yen scare could be easing, Japan has reported an uptick in core inflation ... The sticky inflation, plus wage hikes from the shunto wage negotiations, have bolstered ...

core core, goods, and services CPIs. "The strength in underlying inflation in February suggests that the Bank of Japan could hike rates at its next meeting in May but we still expect that ...