- Wall Street stocks hit fresh records as oil prices slide
- Strike-hit Boeing leaves experts puzzled by strategy
- NASA launches probe to study if life possible on icy Jupiter moon
- EVs seek to regain sales momentum at Paris Motor Show
- NASA probe Europa Clipper lifts off for Jupiter's icy moon
- 'Unsustainable' housing crisis bedevils Spain's socialist govt
- Stocks shrug off China disappointment but oil slides
- Stocks diverge, oil retreats as China disappoints markets
- Trio wins economics Nobel for work on wealth inequality
- Ex-Stasi officer jailed over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as markets rally
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as Asian markets rally
- Nearly 90, but opera legend Kabaivanska is still calling tune
- With inflation down, ECB eyes faster tempo of rate cuts
- Is life possible on a Jupiter moon? NASA goes to investigate
- Ex-Stasi officer faces verdict over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Role of government, poverty research tipped for economics Nobel
- In milestone, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- In a first, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Bangladeshi Hindus shrug off attack worries to celebrate festival
- Ubisoft fears assassin's hit over falling sales
- Vietnam, China hold talks on calming South China Sea tensions
- SpaceX will try to 'catch' giant Starship rocket shortly before landing
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgery: reports
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgey: reports
- 'Little Gregory' murder haunts France 40 years on
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Stock markets diverge before China weekend briefing
- EU questions shopping app Temu over illegal products risk
- Han Kang's books sell out in South Korea after Nobel win
- Shanghai markets sink ahead of briefing on mixed day for Asia
Japan inflation slows to 3.2 percent in May
Japan's consumer prices rose 3.2 percent year on year in May, with the pace of inflation slowing from the 3.4 percent recorded in April, government data showed Friday.
The figure, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, was higher than market expectations, and topped March and February's readings of 3.1 percent.
Inflation in Japan has been less extreme than the price hikes seen in other countries such as the United States, fuelled by the war in Ukraine among other factors.
The US Federal Reserve and many other central banks have raised interest rates to tackle high inflation.
But the Bank of Japan has stuck to its long-standing, ultra-loose monetary policy in an attempt to boost economic growth, causing the yen to fall against the dollar.
Friday's core consumer price index (CPI) figure was slightly higher than market expectations of 3.1 percent recorded in a survey of Bloomberg Economists.
Mizuho Research & Technologies said before the data release that core CPI would likely remain above three percent until the summer, before slowing "from around the latter half of this fiscal year".
Higher prices for processed food, durable goods, mobile phone handsets and hotel fees, among other items, contributed to inflation in May, the internal affairs ministry said.
Declines in electricity and gas prices contributed to the slowing pace of inflation.
Excluding energy, the data released by the ministry showed prices rose 4.3 percent in May, up from 4.1 percent in April.
The Bank of Japan's two-percent inflation target, which it hopes will lead to sustainable growth in the world's third-largest economy, has been surpassed every month for more than a year.
But the central bank sees recent price rises as driven by temporary factors, and so has stuck to its easing policies such as a negative interest rate.
Earlier this year, the BoJ announced a broad review of its "non-traditional" attempts to banish the deflation that plagued Japan since the 1990s.
But moving away from monetary easing will be a tricky balancing act for the bank's new governor Kazuo Ueda, who faces pressure to normalise policy while minimising any shock to the economy.
On Thursday, the Bank of England increased interest rates by an unexpected half-point to a 15-year peak of five percent.
The European Central Bank also recently hiked interest rates to a 22-year high. The US Fed has paused its aggressive tightening campaign, while indicating a sharp increase in rates could be needed before the end of the year.
A.Leibowitz--CPN